


For the Death of Me

by EgyptianRose



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh!
Genre: M/M, School Shootings, Supernatural Elements
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-17
Updated: 2017-05-10
Packaged: 2018-05-07 06:42:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 25
Words: 40,733
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5446937
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EgyptianRose/pseuds/EgyptianRose
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>If you were to tell me this would be the day I would die I might have believed you. If you were to tell me that in order to begin again I would have to put my trust in Seto Kaiba, I would have punched you in the face.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

 

* * *

**Prologue**

**Jounouchi, Katsuya**

I headed out of my class, why did I even decide to go to school? I guess it had something to do with my father; I was perfectly fine skipping school for a week while my father was in rehab for what seemed to be the fiftieth time. Lucky me he decided to cut out of rehab early. School was really my only escape from the impending doom my father brought.

My escape plan was effectively ruined by a certain CEO. I could feel my nails digging into my palms just thinking about that rich bastard. I bet he never had a hard day in his life. Anyway, it started when I walked into class this morning. My friends were happy to see me after two days of being absent so I figured if nothing else I could catch up with them.

I sat down at my desk which was seated behind my best friend, Yugi's desk and we shared stories about the past two days he had spent in the game shop his grandfather owned. As we were talking that jerk, CEO, Seto Kaiba came over and began his usual rant about how I was nothing but a poor dog… and other things along those lines. As soon as I could I excused myself to go to the bathroom.

I walked through the halls leisurely with no intention of returning to class when I heard a soft whisper down the hall. I followed the sounds and paused around a corner from where a commotion was going on. I peeked around the corner and spotted a kid, Yoshi, he had always been a quiet kid and didn't have many friends, I noticed him before but I never went over to talk to him. Two other guys were cornering him as he turned to dig in his locker.

I noticed the two others before but they were in the beautification squad with Honda. Honda had said something about them before but I couldn't remember what it was. I did know that those two were after a fight. I knew this because I have been in my share of fights and I was in a gang before I met my friends.

I decided to take a step out to confront them. "Hey, didn't anyone eva tell you that two against one isn't fair?" the two guys were looking at me now.

"Jounouchi." One of the guys said. "come to join the fight?"

"Yeah." I said little did he know I was joining on the other side of the fight. I held out my fist and smirked; it had been a long time since I felt the feel of someone's face against my fist and I was still angry over my encounter with that rich bastard. This would be fun.

"I told you," came the shaky voice of Yoshi, we all turned to look at him and took steps back in unison, "if you kept picking on me you'd be sorry." In his shaking hands was a gun. The next thing I heard were three booming sounds as he fired.

Bang.

Bang.

Bang.

* * *

**Seto Kaiba**

I looked up from my book after hearing three booming sounds. I looked around and everyone else was just as startled as I was, of course I wasn't showing it on the outside.

"Did you hear that?" someone asked.

"It sounded like a gun."

"No way. It must have been from the chem. Lab."

That had to be it; someone must have blown something up in the chem. Lab. So I sat in my seat and watched the door as the sound of class beginning chimed in and the Sensei had yet to join us. It was unlike our Sensei to be late and I was anxious to see Jounouchi get an earful for skipping class. Okay, so it was my fault he left but in my defense he wasn't supposed to be here in the first place.

It was the third day of the week and the first week of the opening of Kaiba Land USA so naturally I was swamped with calls from the office. Uncharacteristically, I left my phone at home and decided to go to school for a break. I had thought the incessant dog wouldn't be here to ruin my day; I had overheard his friends talking about how he was going to skip school for the week.

I walked into my class room and clenched my school bag tightly in my hand at the sight of Jounouchi Katsuya. He was the last person I needed to see today. I could feel my head nursing a new migraine; I had to put an end to it. I walked over to Jounouchi and began to insult him in the usual ways. He gave in a bit too easily and left the room without one of his weak comebacks.

His friends gave me their usual looks of disappointment but I didn't care.

I was ripped from my memory of the past few moments by the sounds of sirens in the distance. The other students were out of their seats in an instant, it was unusual for that many sirens to cut through the air and I had to admit that I, too, was intrigued. Of course I refrained from looking out the window like a complete moron.

The sirens and wails of cop cars, ambulances and fire trucks was getting louder and that was when one of Jounouchi's stupid friends said, "they are coming to the school." I sat up, maybe those sounds were gunfire? I had heard it enough time to know but I just couldn't believe that a gun would find its place in this school.

"Students," Came the loud voice of the headmaster. "You are all being advised to stay in your class rooms. This is a lockdown; anyone caught outside their rooms will be expelled." Now I was sure it was gunfire. We all were, I suspect.

After a few hours of waiting our Sensei finally walked into our room. The ambulances and fire trucks had left some time ago but there was no let up in the lockdown. "Class please take your seats." She said calmly. Normally she would yell at us for being out of our seats. I looked at her closely and studied her face; her eyes were red and puffy and her hair was disheveled as if she had run a hand through it in a moment of stress. I knew those all too well.

"I have some distressing news." She said as the rest of my class sat back down.

"Earlier today there was a shooting." She said. Well that explained the lock down. "Four students were involved…" she paused. What was she waiting for? "Three of them were shot." She looked at Jounouchi's seat.

Jounouchi was involved? Well it was only a matter of time. That gangbanger was bound to do this one day. I wasn't surprised in the least. "Jounouchi was among them." She said and leaned onto her desk for support. "Two of the students are in critical condition and the last… Jounouchi… he was pronounced dead at the scene." She finally said.

What? I held back my emotions as I always did but the first thought that ran through my mind was that it was my fault. He would have stayed in the class room had I not have teased him. Then again it was the same as it always was… It was then that I noticed Yugi and his friends were panicking and crying. I wasn't listening to anything they were saying, it was all a blur. I was stuck in my own head. Trying to convince myself that I wasn't the reason Jounouchi wasn't around anymore.


	2. Jounouchi

BEEP BEEP BEEP!

I shot out of bed at the horrible sound of my alarm clock. Whoever invented such a sound ought to be killed. I reached over and yanked the bastard clock from the wall. Ha! Try to live without your lifeline. Lifeline… that made me think of the dream I had. It was so real and so intense. I had always heard that if you died in a dream, you died for real. I tensed and looked down at my chest and felt around for the bullet hole I was certain was there.

I lifted my shirt and let out the breath I'd been holding when I felt nothing but the smooth skin of my chest. I let my shirt fall back down and got out of bed. I was already late for school, so I decided to head out in the clothes I had on.

I walked out of my room and I plugged my nose against the strong smell of smoke, alcohol and vomit caused by my old man. With any luck he would be passed out on the couch and I wouldn't have to deal with him.

"Stupid kid!" he screamed. Oh shit. I followed the sound of his voice and entered the living room, which was aglow with the light from the T.V. I looked over at the couch and watched my father sleep. He was covered in cans of beer and the table was covered in cigarette butts. I held my breath and turned off the T.V.

"Little bastard!" he said. I looked over and watched him shift around. I shut my eyes tightly and waited for him. When nothing happened I opened my eyes and saw that he merely rolled over and passed out again. I sighed and headed out of the door.

As I walked to school I thought about my dream once more. Maybe it was a sign that I should make friends with Yoshi. He wasn't unlike Yugi. Yugi and I had turned out to be the greatest of friends. Because of Yugi, my life got turned around. It was decided; when I got to school I would find Yoshi and let him know he had a friend.

He may not believe me; I had been a bully for much of my life. I had started out as a bully at an early age and then I had joined a gang, so it wasn't hard to see why everyone was afraid of me. I had made a reputation for myself and it was going to take time to fix it.

In the distance I could hear the chime of the clock coming from my school. Fixing my life would have to come later, I was going to be late for school. I ran full force through the streets and decided to take a shortcut. I rounded a familiar corner and grabbed onto a pipe that was sticking from the wall of a building and hoisted myself up over a fence that divided the alleyway. I ran out of the alley and through the back entrance of my school.

As I walked to my classroom, I noticed everyone seemed to be floating all around, there were no signs of teenage drama, no girls gossiping, and no guys talking about girls or parties. No, instead there was an air of danger and sadness.

What was going on with everyone? I decided I would ask Yugi later. I walked into my classroom and everyone was wearing black and sitting quietly at their desks. Shit, I didn't get the memo. I was wearing my favorite shirt and usual uniform pants. I sat down at my desk. It was too late for me to go change and no one was saying anything about it so I figured it would be okay.

I looked over at Seto's desk and smirked to find that it was empty. I've hated him ever since the first day of kindergarten.

* * *

_My mother worked really hard to get me into the Elite School for Little Thinkers, one of the most expensive kindergartens in the world. She had wanted me to be safe and get an education that no one in her family had ever gotten._

_I didn't care, I was a kid. I went into that school with every intention of making friends; I had never had friends before and my mother told me I could make as many of them as I wanted to in school. I hugged my mother (one of the few times I could remember hugging her) and walked into the room. I smiled at the other kids and noticed a group of them sitting at a table. They were wearing little suits and practicing their writing skills._

_I walked over and said "Hi, I am Katsuya." One of the kids, Seto Kaiba, looked up at me and laughed._

_"It's funny," He said._

_"What is?" I was smiling, hoping to laugh at what he thought I said that was so funny._

_"That you think you can talk to us." I blinked, what was he talking about? "We don't play with people like you."_

_"People like me?"_

_"My father says you grew up on the south side and we aren't allowed to talk to you. He says that people from the south side grow up to be hoodilioms," another kid said. I never learned his name._

_"Not hoodilioms, hoodlums," Seto corrected._

_"What is a hood…what is that?" I asked._

_"Look in the mirror," Seto said and then the other kids started to chant the word over and over._

* * *

Just thinking about that day makes my blood boil. I finally looked away from Seto's empty seat and tapped Yugi on the shoulder. He shivered and turned around. "Why is everyone wearing black?" I asked.

I watched his face carefully and sat back as his eyes began to water and I noticed the tracks running down his cheeks. He had been crying before. "Yug, what's wrong?" He said nothing; he turned away and was suddenly comforted by Anzu and Honda. Was Yugi mad at me or something? "Hey, yug… don't cry…" I paused when our Sensei entered the room.

"Is everyone ready?" she asked. What the heck was going on? She walked over to my desk and looked at me; in fact, now that I noticed, everyone was looking at me. "Let's go."

Everyone stood and walked to the door, forming a line. I shrugged and joined them. I shouldn't have left school early yesterday, apparently something major was happening today and I was totally unprepared. I followed my class through the halls of our school and out the front doors to the courtyard at the entrance.

We circled around a bench that I had never seen before. "What's with the bench?" No answer.

I looked up as the rest of the students at our school circled around us and then our Sensei broke formation and walked up to the bench and turned around to talk to us.

"We are all gathered here to honor one of our school's students, whose life was taken suddenly. This is certainly a tragic event, but we will not let this bring us down. We will be stronger than ever and we will let the world know that even though we will never forget, we will never let this tragedy define us." She continued to say things along those lines. I guess it was a good thing I had skipped school yesterday.

"Who are we honoring?" I asked Yugi but he was still ignoring me.

"I have something I want to say," Yugi said suddenly. His eyes were dry again, but I could tell he was ready to cry at any moment. Yugi walked up to the bench looked out at everyone. "He was my best friend… everyday without him will be like torture of the worst kind. We may have started off on the wrong foot…" Yugi paused to laugh but it was an ironic laugh. "In fact, the first time he told me we were friends, he lost his shoe."

What? Wait a minute… That's when I told Yugi I was his friend.

"I know he will be watching over us and I know we will always be incomplete without him."

"He was my best friend too." This time Honda spoke. "We got into loads of trouble together before we met Yugi; the four of us won't be the same without him."

"Jounouchi," Anzu spoke. I looked at her. She burst into tears and Yugi and Honda wrapped their arms around her.

"Guys…" I said. "Please tell me what's going on." Even though, by now I was sure I knew what was going on, I just didn't want to admit it. I didn't want to admit that this memorial was for me.


	3. Seto

My limo pulled up just outside the memorial for Jounouchi and I just sat there, watching as the other students walked up and said a few words in front of a bench. I wasn't particularly in the mood to even come into school today. I sighed and thought back on this morning when my brother convinced me that I should come, even if Jounouchi and I had never been friends.

My brother, Mokuba, had the uncanny ability to make me do things I didn't want to do. It was weird that our roles would reverse now and then. When we were smaller, I had to act as his mother, father and older brother. I did all I could to give Mokuba the life he deserved. I made sure he could make the right decisions; sometimes he would do the same for me, like today.

I stepped out of my warm limo and stood before the school gates like an idiot. Everyone here knew how I felt about that mutt. Everyone knew how he felt about me. To them, me being here was probably an insult. I took an annoyed breath and walked into the courtyard. I was thinking of trying to stay off to the side, so no one would see me. Thing is, when you are the CEO of a multibillion dollar company, that's not easy to do.

I decided I was being childish and walked straight through the middle of the courtyard. I could feel everyone's eyes on my back as I walked passed them. I had felt those stares before, only this time they were suffocating. I gripped my school bag tightly and continued to walk. I found my class, stood at the end of the crowd and watched the rest of the memorial.

I felt so out of place, and I hadn't felt that way in a long time. I wasn't wanted there. I knew they all thought it was my fault; I could practically hear their thoughts.

_Why is he here?_

_What makes him think he is welcome?_

_He made Jounouchi leave the classroom._

_He probably hired someone to shoot him._

I let out a low growl and forced my body still. I couldn't afford to let these people, people I didn't even care about, get to me. So I stood there ridged, like ice, which is how I needed to feel.

"What are you doing here?"I heard a familiar voice whisper. I turned to see Hiroto, one of Jounouchi's idiotic friends, staring at me. I looked right at him as if he didn't matter to me, and he didn't.

"You don't even have to come to school, why are you here today? This is about him, not you. You should leave." Ha! To leave now would make me look weak. I was staying.

"Hiroto, leave Kaiba alone." It was Yugi this time. Every once in a while he would stand up for me when I needed it, though I'd never admit it out loud. He was very stupid in that regard, I wouldn't give him the time of day even if he asked for it. I would never stand up for him. I didn't even consider us friends. "Even though he and Jounouchi were never close, he has a right to be here. The shooter could have gotten anyone of us," he said.

"Besides," he continued, and then looked at me with those big, purple puppy-dog eyes of his. Those were a weapon, let me tell you. "I am sure Kaiba will miss Jounouchi most of all."

What? "Excuse me?" I said and anger surged through me. "I'd never miss him. Jounouchi ended up exactly where we all knew he eventually would. He was a no-good gangbanger and you are lucky he's gone because now he can't drag you down with him." As soon as the words left my mouth I felt like tossing myself off of my building.

"You don't mean that!" Yugi said, and then burst into tears. Shit. That was a weapon too.

"I can't believe you just said that," Mazaki said, as she wrapped her arms around Yugi, "We all knew you were an ass, but I never thought you would say something like that. This," she gestured to the courtyard and everyone in it, "should never happen to anyone."

"See, Kaiba," Hiroto said, "no one wants you here, and you don't want to be here, so you should just leave."

"I am not leaving," I said, "I am going to go to class and then I am going to go home. Then tomorrow I am going to do the same thing. I am not going to let this matter affect my life. I'm going to move on, and so should all of you," I said. Apparently this statement was worse than the one I had made earlier, because that's when Hiroto grabbed my tie and yanked me closer; he brought a fist up to hit me. I let my gaze fall downward; I wanted him to hit me. I wanted to feel something, something other than regret and this growing numbness.

"Hiroto, Honda!" our Sensei yelled, and Hiroto let me go with a shove. "What do you think you are doing?"

"I am sorry, Sensei, but Kaiba doesn't have the right to be here," Hiroto said. Sensei gave him the coldest look I had ever seen her give anyone; I didn't even know someone could give that look better than I could.

"Yes, he does. I know we are all hurting right now, but that doesn't mean we can go and act like barbarians," she said, "I think it's time we went inside." Best idea ever.

I watched as everyone filed into the school. I certainly had no desire to join them, but after all of this fuss about my not being needed, I decided I would go just to piss off Hiroto.

Back in class I sat down at my desk as Sensei tried to teach, but no one was really paying any attention to her. The shooting was a week ago and the culprit was still a mystery. I don't understand how he could have gotten away. After the shots were fired wouldn't someone have gone out to see? I would have, had the shooting not taken place halfway across the campus.

The other two victims weren't much help, they had been in critical condition for days and when they finally came to they couldn't remember a thing. Morons. If I had been shot and lived through it, I would remember every little detail so that I could get my revenge. The shooter would wish he'd have killed me because I would do everything in my power to make him suffer.

I could feel Hiroto staring me down again, and it was pissing me off. I looked over at him and was startled to see Jounouchi sitting at his desk. What? I looked away, then back again.

There he was.

At his desk.

Was I seeing this right? I blinked. Perhaps the guilt is too much for me to bear, so now my mind is projecting Jounouchi. I didn't know I cared that much. I turned back to my desk and tried to ignore the vision I was seeing. Fuck, if I didn't need a therapist before, I needed one now.

I told myself that for the remainder of the day I would focus on my class work and not look towards Jounouchi's side of the room. I don't know what I'll do if I look over and he's still there. Time was ticking away, but all I could think about was what I had seen.

This is ridiculous. Jounouchi is dead; I know he's dead. I was letting Hiroto get the better of me. I stood up and walked out of the room, despite Sensei's objection to it. I needed air.

Making my way to the courtyard I glanced over at the bench that was dedicated to Jounouchi's memory. It was his fault, he shouldn't have left classroom. We would always fight and never had he once left the room. I glared. I hated him even more now. "You bastard," I said, "even in death you manage to torment me."

"Yeah, well this hasn't exactly been a field day for me either." I wheeled around to see Jounouchi standing there. Now my mind is projecting his voice. "Only good thing is that I can call you names and you have to take it 'cause you can't hear me." Wow, I remembered his accent so well it sounded as if he was really there. "Idiot," He continued, and then started running around me calling me names, "Ooo, there's the vein. It's so scary. We are all scared of the great Seto Kaiba." He was mocking me now. I let out a breath I just realized I was holding.

"Shut the fuck up!" I yelled, and he stopped.

"Y-You can hear me?" he asked.

"Of course I can hear you, you're a figment of my imagination. I guess I'm a masochist or something."

"Wha?..."

"I have no time for this." I didn't. "I must have eaten something bad." Thing is, I didn't eat anything all day. This wasn't happening. I pulled out my phone and called my limo. I ignored Jounouchi as best I could until the limo came and I got in quickly.

"Where to, Mr. Kaiba?" Roland asked.

"The hospital." I needed a CAT scan, or at the very least drugs to make my mind stop. The shooting wasn't my fault, and I'm not going to let myself think it was.


	4. Jounouchi

I stood in the courtyard and watched as Seto hurried into his limo. I said he could see me. If that was true then maybe I had a way to figure out what was going on. I made a fist and let out a curse toward the sky. "You think this is funny?" I asked god not that I believe or anything… still. I wasn't going to ask Kaiba for help, no way. There had to be someone else with the ability to see me.

As I was about to start my search the bell sounded for lunch. Aww man. I love lunch. My stomach growled but I wasn't hungry. This was the worst thing ever. I sighed and sat down on the bench dedicated to me. I ran my fingers over my name then over my birthday and death day. Yes I knew I was dead and that my dream wasn't a dream. What I didn't know was why I was stuck in the living world. I was a ghost.

I had seen enough movies to know that if I was a ghost then I had unfinished business. Thing is I don't know what is unfinished. Maybe I should have stood up to my father or confronted my mother about why she left me. If that was true there would be no way for me to talk to them now anyway.

"Hey Jouno." I heard my name and watched as Yugi came to sit next to me on the bench. "I brought your favorite. Well one of your favorites." He said and dug through his lunch box and pulled out a Rice Crispy treat. My mouth watered. Ever since we had gone to America on one of our "trips" to save the world I had been addicted to those things. "It's probably silly for me to bring you a snack. You aren't even around anymore."

"I'm right here, Yugi." I said and reached for his hand but my hand just went right through his. "I hate this!" I screamed

"But all the same I am going to have lunch with you like always." He said and began to eat his lunch and tell me about his day. "And I'm sorry about what Kaiba said this morning. I am sure he is hurt too. I bet he thinks this is his fault."

"Pft, he wishes." I said.

"I just wish I knew who did this to you." He said. "Then at least the school could calm down and then you could have justice."

"It was Yoshi. How do you not know that? I mean there were four of us. If no one else saw then how did they know there were four of us?"

"Whoever it was must have slipped back into a classroom or into a crowd to blend in. Once the other two regain their memory I am sure they will tell the police."

"What!" I was really mad now. The guys who actually deserved it (well not deserved it but you know) get to live and I, the one who tried to help Yoshi, get to die! How was that right? Those bastards are lucky I'm dead.

"Anyway, Jouno," he paused then blushed. "Remember how I've been trying to get Anzu to notice me as more than a friend?"

"Yeah." Even though he couldn't hear me, we really were having a normal conversation. It felt nice.

"Well she finally asked me out. She said she's always had a thing for me. You were right; I should have told her how I felt in the beginning."

"Way to go Yug'." I smiled. At least Yugi wouldn't be alone and he could try to move on. Eventually, I knew, he would have to stop "having lunch with me" and that's what I wanted. It was breaking my heart to watch him mourn for me.

After lunch I decided to start my search for someone else who could see me. Now that I knew Yoshi hadn't been caught I knew what my unfinished business was. Problem was I had no idea where to start.

Psychics? Family? I didn't have the guts to find my family, I didn't want to find out that my mom didn't care or that my dad didn't miss me. I didn't want to watch my sister cry over me. I shook those thoughts out of my head when the bell for the elementary school across the street sounded.

That's when it hit me.

Mokuba Kaiba.

Money bags' little brother might be able to see me. Maybe it ran in the family. Going to Mokuba would be a lot easier. I walked out of my school's courtyard and walked across the street to the elementary school. Then I saw him standing outside the gates on his cell phone. I really hope he doesn't turn out like his brother. His eyes went wide.

"Mokuba?" I asked as I walked over to him.

"Jounouchi?" he said and my heart raced, he could see me. "What do you mean you saw him?" he asked. Oh, he was on the phone talking about me. He didn't see me. And if he didn't see me by now then that meant he couldn't. "I think you should take a few days off." He said. "Because if you are seeing things then you are stressed out about the shooting. I don't care." He paused. "No one will think you are weak." He sighed and hung up.

"Your brother is a jerk." Someone behind me said.

"He's right." I said.

"No he's not. He's just stressed from work. None of you know what he's really like." Mokuba said.

"I've never seen it."

"When have you been over long enough to see it?"

"Point." The kid said. "But doesn't he care that he's hurting you?"

"He'd never hurt me on purpose." Mokuba said.

"Maybe not but he hurts you on accident an awful lot." The kid said. "Oh, there's my mom. See you tomorrow, Mokuba." Then the kid ran off to his mother leaving Mokuba alone. Well not alone, I was there.

"Hey, Mokuba. It's okay. Don't listen to that kid. I have seen the relationship you have with Kaiba. I don't understand it but I know he loves you." I said and started walking with him toward the Kaiba mansion.

When we got there I froze. I had never gone inside and never expected to. I hated Kaiba but going in his house seemed like an invasion of his privacy. I stayed outside while Mokuba went in. I just couldn't bring myself to go where I wasn't welcomed. Damn my new morals. But I guess it did give me an excuse to leave. I was still on a mission to find someone else who could see me.

I got up and started to head for the street when I noticed a limo pull into the drive. Shit. I was hoping to avoid him. I wonder if I can turn invisible. I am a ghost. Then again why would I need that ability if no one was supposed to see me anyway? I jumped into a bush watched Kaiba get out of his limo.

"I don't have time for this, Roland." Seto sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"But master Kaiba, I don't understand why you don't take a day or two off."

"I can't afford that. Let this go." He said but he wasn't as scary as I thought he would be. I was sure that when an employee talked back to Kaiba was fired on the spot.

"Yes, sir." Roland said. It must suck to work for Kaiba.

"Look, after I am finished with Kaiba Land U.S.A. I can take a break."

"Yeah right." I said and covered my mouth, and looked out to see if he had heard me. He wasn't looking.

"If you say so, Sir." I watched them go into the mansion and crawled out of the bush when the door closed. I dusted myself off and hurried out of his yard and down the street. I was reduced to hiding from Kaiba and I hated it. I hated that he was the only one who could see me. Fuck my life…. Or should I say, fuck my death.

I walked through the streets of domino cursing my death until I came up to my…father's apartment. Even though I was dead the thought of home was comforting. I mean my father wasn't really there for me but once I got to my room and locked the door everything was alright again. I hurried home and slipped through the door.

I looked around; the house was spotless, clean. It hadn't been clean since mom had lived here. I glanced around for my dad. Maybe he moved out? Nah. There was no way he'd let this cheap place go.

"I'll do better." I heard my father say as I reached the center of the house. He seemed to be in the middle of an important conversation. He was in the hall just outside my old room on his knees with his head against my mother's stomach.

I had to double take to make sure I was seeing her right but it was in fact my mom. I hadn't seen her in years, she never even called and now she was here. I didn't know whether to I was happy to see her or angry that she would visit now that I was gone.

"I don't know…" she said and looked into my room sadly.

"Please." My father begged. Pft, the only time I ever heard him beg was when we were at the bar and he wanted another beer. "I swear, the drinking is over, I enrolled in AA. Please, I don't want to be alone. Take me back."

Selfish bastard. I thought

My mom placed her hands on my father's head and suddenly I felt like I was intruding. She said yes and slid to her knees and hugged my father. Fuck. Oh sure, get back together now that I am gone.

"You guys suck!" I yelled and stomped past them and went into my room. Thankfully it was still the same. I hopped onto my bed and stared up at the ceiling.

"Pack a bag and we can head back in time for dinner." My mom said softly. I groaned and rolled over. "We'll have people clear out the rooms and let this place go." I sat up quickly waiting for them to mention me or my things. Didn't parents usually dedicate a room to their dead kids? I'm not asking for a shrine but maybe they could come in here and see if they want to keep something to remember me by.

"Good idea. I can't be here anymore." My father said. "Being here wasn't a good idea. I turned my son into a bully and he paid the price for it. I won't make the same mistake with our new son."

"WHAT?" I shot out of bed and trumped over to them and glared. That's why my father was on his knees earlier.

"I only came here to tell you about the baby I didn't mean for you to change your life around." She said.

Oh god, I'm gonna be sick. I was being replaced. Easily replaced.

"I know but this is my chance to change. That night… it was supposed to be fun. One last reminder of how good we were together but now… now it's more than that and I am ready to take this chance."

Oh sure. Until you pick up another beer and beat him too. Fuck this. It was all so suffocating; if that was possible. I took one last look at my room and headed for the door. I would find a way back and then confront my parents. I would show them. I would show everyone that I wasn't the fuck-up they thought I was. And I would start with the one person who could see me. This would be the first test I was ever ready to take.


	5. Seto

The doctor was no help, he said I was fine, I most certainly was not fine. I glared at the idea that the Doctor got paid for his half-assed work and headed up to my home office. I passed Mokuba on the way but I didn't look at him. I knew he was worried about me but I couldn't tell him what happened. I put my briefcase down and pulled out my chair before sitting down. I turned on my computer and as I waited for it to boot up I placed my head in my hands.

"Nii-sama?" I looked up to see that Mokuba had walked in. "Roland told me you went to the hospital. Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, Mokuba." Damn that Roland. I sighed, "I'm just stressed over this Kaiba Land USA thing."

"That's unusual for you." He said. Couldn't he see that I didn't want to share my problem with him? If he kept going like this I would spill the beans.

"It's another culture over there, I need to be careful." I said which was true. Even Walt Disney had problems when he first opened Euro Disney.

"Okay, but that's not something people go to the hospital for." He said as he made his way over to my desk. He placed his small hand on my forehead and pulled back quickly. I looked at him with alarm. "You're hot." He said. I was? I blinked twice.

"That's it!" Of course! I gave him one of my rare smiles. "I have a fever, it's been making me see and hear things." I said.

"Oh. Then you shouldn't be in the office working. You should be in bed, resting." Mokuba said. I knew I felt fine and I knew I could work but if going to bed and missing a day of work would get him to stop worrying, well, it was a small price to pay.

"Alright." I said.

"Alright? Really?" Mokuba smiled. "Great. I'll make you some tea and bring it to you in bed." He said and hurried out to the kitchen.

"Earl Grey!" I shouted and logged into my computer, I had a few moments before Mokuba would return. I decided to check my email and of course I was swamped with complaints from America. I could feel a headache forming once again and I beginning to think this USA thing was a waste of time. I sighed and began typing away response after response.

Then I paused at an e-mail address I had never seen before and somehow I knew who it was. Begrudgingly I opened it up.

_-What you said about Jounouchi really hurt but I know it's a defense mechanism. I know you aren't as cold hearted as everyone makes you out to be, as you make yourself out to be. I wanted to say, for what it's worth that I don't think it was your fault. You probably think it was but I know you more than you think. Also I forgive you for those words._

_I guess that's all. You don't have to write back or anything. Yugi-_

I looked away then back again. Yugi. I stood up, how dare he try and see through me like this. Fuck. I deleted the email and shut down my computer. Jounouchi is gone and I am over it. I don't need Yugi's sympathy or his forgiveness.I left the office just in time to see Mokuba walk up the stairs with my tea.

"Why aren't you in bed?" Mokuba asked giving me the best pout he could muster. It broke my heart a little. My greatest weakness was my little brother. Several people knew about it too and kidnapped him to try and get at me. I'd gladly give up my company to save his life. But not before trying to save him myself.

"I wanted to check my email real quick." I said.

"That's never real quick" he was right, on average I received about two hundred emails a day.

"This time it was." I said and headed toward my bedroom, taking the tea cup from Mokuba. I sipped at it and the warmth washed over me. I felt relaxed. I sat down on my bed and watched Mokuba leave. He had that look of worry in his eyes and I hated it. There wasn't anything I could do to change the way he saw me right now. In a few days it would pass. I took another sip of tea and let out a small sound of satisfaction. It was the perfect blend of tea, water and sugar.

I hadn't felt warm in days. Perhaps the world got a little colder now that Jounouchi was gone. Not that I missed him or anything. Though he was a thug and a major idiot, he did have this innocence about him. I suppose that's what started this whole thing. To see him interact with his friends was almost enough to make one jealous, almost.

It was then that I noticed how tightly I'd been gripping my cup; my fingers were nearly white from the pressure. I sighed and put the cup down. If there wasn't anything physically wrong with me then it had to be mental. I had often read stories of geniuses who turned insane after a while, could that be me? I certainly didn't feel insane. And wasn't the questioning of my sanity enough proof I am, in fact, sane?

The room began to spin and I decided it wouldn't be a bad idea to sleep. It was a long day and it wasn't as if Mokuba will let me get any work done. Yes. I leaned back into my pillow and closed my eyes and drifted off to sleep.

* * *

_The school bell rang again, it was another Monday and I had decided to go to school. People often wondered why I went to school. If I were rich and set for life why would I need to? It was simple. I wanted to set a good example for my brother. I wasn't naive enough to think Kaiba Corp. would be around forever. Not that I wanted it to end nor would I let it anytime soon. I needed Mokuba to have something to fall back on. Plus, I don't really think the business world is something he wants for himself._

_There was another reason I went to school. A reason I had never shared with anyone. A reason I wouldn't admit to myself even now. I never let my mind wonder to the weak feeling of loneliness. Everyone thought I was an emotionless robot; well that's what I wanted them to think._

_At the orphanage I was seen as weak. I had just lost my parents but that wasn't enough for the other kids. They saw fit to tease and harass my brother and I. One day I caught Mokuba in the middle of the road waiting for traffic to start. I pulled him from the street at the last moment. After that I decided I would get us out of that place. I had to start by showing the other kids that the Kaiba brothers were a force to be reckoned with. Shortly after I made sure we were adopted._

_The bell to the school started to chime again. I hurried into the courtyard and was suddenly shoved. I stumbled back a bit and glanced around, ready to give it to the one who had pushed me, but there was no one there. I shrugged it off and started for the school's entrance only to be pushed back again._

" _You don't belong here!"I turned and noticed that my schoolmates were surrounding me. I closed my eyes for a second to regain my thoughts. What is going on?_

" _Murderer." I heard, "Murderer!" there it was again. It was being chanted through the air. Voices were spinning around me and when I opened my eyes again I was in the center of the courtyard encircled by my schoolmates. "It's Kaiba, the murderer." One said, I tried to see who it was but when I looked up to see his or her face there wasn't one to see; Just blank skin and dark eyes and a slit for a mouth. All of the students looked this way. "Jounouchi is gone because you…"_

" _That's not true! I never told him to leave." I yelled but nothing came out, I had no voice._

" _Murderer. He can't even defend himself." Another blank student said. "I say we give him what he deserves." The student said._

_I pushed past them and the world began to swirl again. I closed my eyes once more and when I opened them I was standing above Jounouchi. He was sitting, backed against a wall in our school hallway. He looked up at me with fear in his honey colored eyes. It was then that I noticed a familiar weight in my hand. I was holding my silver gun. I was pointing at Jounouchi. I tried to put my hand down. But it wouldn't listen. I didn't want to do this._

" _You murderer." It was Jounouchi, his voice echoing clearly in my head. "You kill me and that's what you'll be." He said. I felt my trigger finger twitch and I knew it was coming._

" _Run! You moron!" I screamed at him, again, no voice came from my mouth. "You are too strong to be gunned down in the halls of a school!" I screamed again, nothing._

" _You bastard. You murderer!" he screamed and I felt my hand squeeze, I felt the gun go off in my head and tried to turn away but could not. I was forced to watch as the bullet entered Jounouchi's chest. He let out a cry as I shot him two more times._

" _I didn't do it! It wasn't me!" I felt myself scream again and this time I could hear my voice only it was softer than I had intended it to be._

* * *

"I didn't do it." I said again and opened my eyes to find that I was back in my room. It had all been a nightmare. I hadn't had a nightmare in years. Damn that dog. It was just like him to torment me even when he was gone. I stayed in bed for a while, waiting for my breath to catch up. I cringed as I felt the sheets sticking to my body. I yanked the covers off and headed for the bathroom. "This is not happening." I mumbled as I turned on the water of my shower.

I peeled off my clothes as I waited for the water to heat up. I needed something to shake off the feeling of shame I had gotten from my nightmare. It was so vivid. I could even feel little drops of dream Jounouchi's blood as they splashed back onto me. I looked down at my heads to make sure there was no blood. None. I knew it. Steam began to fill the bathroom and I got into the water. Hmm. It felt good. I stood there, under the water for a while, unmoving, until I felt a cold draft.


	6. Jounouchi

I looked up and glared at the wall trying to figure out what had just happened. One minute I was leaning comfortably against a wall and the next my form slipped right through the wall and I was falling. I'd have to work on how to control the going through things thing. I sighed, even death is work.

A puff of steam drifted past my eyes and that was when I noticed just where I had fallen. The bathroom and someone was showering. Crap. I stood up and glanced over at the shower quickly out of curiosity, not that I could control it. The steam was so thick that it was hard to make out who it was.

"Stupid mutt. Now I'm jumping at every little draft."

I held my breath. It was Kaiba in the shower. I would have made fun of the fact that he was talking to himself but if he caught me in here he'd kill me. Not that it was possible but then he wouldn't help me for sure. I looked back at him when I heard him move. My mouth dropped open and I moved a little closer.

He ran his hand through his hair and threw his head back and let out a moan as the hot water ran down his glistening body. My eyes focused on a drop of water that pearled up on his muscular shoulder before it rolled down over his chest. I bit my bottom lip and swallowed against the lump in my throat. I watched the drop linger on his nipple before falling down and blending in with the rest of the water. I blinked then and tried to look away but then he turned around and placed his hand on the wall and let the water hit his face. I looked down slightly, not that a meant to but… his ass was so hard and perfect that it would be a shame to waste the view.

I took a step back horrified at my thoughts. I should not be thinking of Kaiba like this. I looked at my hand as if it had the answers. I had always known I was different in that department but looking at Kaiba, a man who was my mortal enemy was just wrong.

"You had better have a good reason for being here, Jounouchi." Jounouchi? He used my name, Uh-Oh, he was serious. I looked up to meet his eyes. Apparently the water had stopped running a bit ago and he had caught me. Then again it depended on how long he knew I was there.

"Eh… I was just looking for… then I fell through the wall…" I shuddered. What the hell was wrong with me, how could I let Kaiba make me feel all jittery?

"You have two seconds to get the fuck out of my bathroom." His nostrils flared and the vein appeared on his forehead." I turned quickly to leave and stepped to the door and continued until I crashed into it. I was Solid again. I cursed under my breath and held my head before grabbing the doorknob and making my way out.

I ended up in Kaiba's bedroom so I found a chair and decided to wait for Kaiba to come out, I did have all day after all. I sighed and looked around. Kaiba's room was sterile and pristine. I stared at his bed and blushed again as naughty thoughts filled my head again. Damn his bed for being so perfect, for making me wonder what one-thousand thread count sheets would feel like on my bare skin. "Stop." I said to myself and my eyes fell on a picture frame on his nightstand.

Kaiba and Mokuba were in the picture with their parents. I sat on the edge of the bed and scooped up the frame. He had spent his whole life without them. I guess we weren't so different. My parents may as well have been dead with the way they treated me. And now they have a new baby on the way. I was forgotten.

"Put that down, you're breaking it." I looked down at my hands and noticed that my grip was so tight that the frame was screaming against the tension. I set the frame back down and looked over at Kaiba as he stepped out of his bathroom wrapped in a clean white towel. His abs and chest were still wet from the steam. I found myself staring at him longer than I wanted to again.

"What are you doing here? Why are you here?" Kaiba asked, but it sounded like he was talking to himself. "That damn doctor, I knew he was full of shit."

"What are you talking about?" I asked.

"You are the result of some sickness that I have."

"I am not!" Dammit he still thought I was in his imagination. He should know that I am real seeing as how Kaiba doesn't have imagination. "I am real," I said, and then took a breath before continuing, "and I am here for your help."

"My help?" he laughed. "Get out."

"No!" I yelled. "You are the only one who can see me. You know that if there was anybody else I'd sure as hell ask them first."

"The only one? Are you sure? Have you tried everyone on the planet?"

"No." my eye twitched in irritation.

"Then come back when you have, after all, you have all the time in the world." He smirked. I clenched my jaw shut and resisted the urge to punch him. "Let's get something straight, even if you were alive and asking for my help I'd never help you. I don't like you; I never have and never will. You don't even have the right to breathe the same air as me."

I raised my fist in the air, one way to prove I was real would be to punch him, let him feel me. Then I paused as a plan formed in my head. 'If that's how you feel let's see how you like having a ghost in your house.' I thought and crossed my fingers for a grand exit and was rewarded when I managed to float through a wall and into the hallway.

After a while Kaiba left his room and rolled his eyes at the sight of me. "That's right, I'm not leaving. As you said, I have all the time in the world." He let out a breath of control and strolled passed me without a word. "Ignoring me would work if I wasn't real!" I called after him then followed him through the halls. "How do you not get lost? I guess if you grow up somewhere you can remember."

"Nii-sama." I looked behind me a smiled as Mokuba ran up to Kaiba and hugged him. "How are you feeling tonight?"

"I'm fine, Mokuba." He said, releasing his brother from their embrace.

"Well, I still think you should get some sleep, so after dinner just rest, okay?"

"Alright, I will, Mokuba."

"I wish he could see me too, I could get him to get you to help me."

"Shut up." Kaiba said suddenly and Mokuba coiled away. "Ah… Not you Mokuba… I was just thinking… something that happened earlier."

"Watch it." I warned him and he and Mokuba continued to the dining room to eat.

I watched them at dinner and smirked when Roland set a glass of expensive wine in front of Kaiba. I stood up, Kaiba was doing a good job of ignoring me until I reached over held my hand in the flick position next to the glass. He gave me a warning look and I just smirked as I dumped his glass over, spilling the expensive liquid over his lap. I stepped back when he stood.

"Nii-sama!" Mokuba stood and handed Kaiba a napkin. "What was that?"

"It was nothing." Kaiba said the word 'nothing' as if he were saying I was nothing. Well there was more where that came from. He wiped at his pants and finished a few more bites of his meal. "I think I'm going to go to bed now."

"Good idea. I'll finish eating and help Roland clean up." Mokuba said, he was a good kid. Wonder where he got that from.

I followed Kaiba to his room and sat in a chair as he changed his pants and pulled his shirt off. He threw his shirt onto the chair, trying to ignore me, or it was a habit and this is where he always threw his shirt. "You'll be gone by tomorrow." He said and slipped into this bed.

I glanced down at the shirt in my hands; his scent was wafting out of it. I closed my eyes against the powerful smell. I waited a few moments and suddenly I felt the soft silk of his night shirt against my nose. I opened my eyes and sniffed carefully. He smelled like a thunderstorm, cool rain, powerful thunder, electric. I decided I would let him have a peaceful night and left his room to wait in the call, disregarding the shirt.

After a few moments I fell asleep slumped against the wall outside his door.

"Master Kaiba." I woke to the sound of Roland knocking on Kaiba's door. "The Americans will be here in a couple of hours, I have the car waiting for you." He said and I stood up.

"Thank you, I'll be out soon." Kaiba said.

"Of course." Roland said then turned in my direction and glanced right at me in suspicion. I took a step back and held my breath, could he see me? He then shook it off and walked right past me. I guess not.

What was this thing about Americans? Perhaps this was the perfect time to set plan Haunted House into motion. I followed Roland to the car but not too close I still wasn't sure he couldn't sense me somehow.

When we got to the car I crossed my fingers again, the only way to follow undetected would be to hide in the trunk. I placed my hands on the smooth metal but felt nothing and suddenly my hand went though. Yes. I hopped up and in only to fall all the way through and onto the driveway.

Dammit! I stood up as Kaiba walked out of his house and headed for the car. He couldn't see me yet. I looked at the trunk and gave it a warning glare before jumping in again, this time my face smashed into the metal. Fuck!

I didn't have much time and Roland was standing next to the open door for Kaiba. The driver's side door was open. I guess I had no choice but to ride next to Roland and hope he couldn't sense me. I dove into the front door and settle myself in the passenger's side. The partition would keep Kaiba from seeing me.

Once we reached Kaiba Corp I waited for Roland to get out before diving back out the door and rolling in the asphalt I slipped behind a pillar and waited for Kaiba to be far enough away for me to follow him.

"Please to meet you, Mr. Kaiba." I heard one American say as he reached out his hand to shake Kaiba's. Kaiba took it with a slight hesitation that only the rest of his employees and me could see. Why was he so tense around these guys? I shrugged and followed as Kaiba led handshake guy and two others to a conference room.

I strolled along quietly and stood by the door so that Kaiba saw me when he closed it and said, "This will be fun."


	7. Seto

I sat across the table from the Americans known as James and Marcus. James's hair was cut military style and his green eyes held the cold glint that could only come from conquering the corporate world. I could tell he had to do some nasty things the climb up to the position he was in presently. Marcus, on the other hand had long hair that swept past his ears. He sat quietly and waited for James to start speaking. Standard lackey.

My eyes then focused on the one thing that could ruin things for me. Jounouchi the "ghost" sat in a chair in the corner of the room. I could see the mischief in his eyes. Nothing was going to ruin this for me, not even my crazy mind.

I thought of rescheduling until I could figure out why my brain was projecting Jounouchi all over the place but that wasn't my style. If anyone thought something was wrong with me then the vultures would attack. No. it was now or never.

Jounouchi smiled, "Those guys don't look like they want to play with you. Nah, they look like they would kill you if they could get away with it." I glared at him. Fuck. How was it that Jounouchi could get these reactions out of me? I quickly relaxed my face before James or his lackey could see.

"Mr. Kaiba, I am sure you know that there are multiple bids for the plot of land you want to use to build Kaiba Land USA. We have looked over the plans and the layout is perfect."

" _Naturally_." I thought but kept a straight face while the man spoke.

"There's only one problem." James continued.

"Oh snap." Jounouchi said. "I thought you never made mistakes."

"Shut up!" I blurted out and James stood up.

"Excuse me?"

"Not you…" shit. Who else was in the room other than Marcus and that wouldn't look good either, number one reason being that he hadn't said a word save for "hello" when he walked into the meeting room. "Forgive me. I don't know where that came from. I didn't mean you. Please continue."

"Asking for forgiveness? Whoa, this must be important. Then again I've never been in here watching you business it up before. Maybe this is what you did to get to be CEO; A lot of begging and apologizing."

"The problem is with the fact that your company is based out of Japan. With all that's been happening in America most people are all about American made and American run businesses."

"I don't see the problem. People come from America to spend the day at Kaiba Land. Duel Monsters has never been bigger." I said. This was a bad excuse; he was trying to discourage me. " _Nice try James_." I thought, " _But this is Seto Kaiba you are dealing with._ "

"While that is true, I just don't think that the amount of money you put down on this place is enough to cover what we will lose if we go with you instead of a local company."

"You want more money?" I asked. Bastards. I was currently the highest bidder.

"This guy is an asshole." Jounouchi said and I had to agree with him. "Build it somewhere else, here. I'll get rid of them for you." He stood and placed his hands on a pitcher of water and began to push it towards the edge of the table. I nearly panicked until I noticed that as he pushed he began to fade and pant. "Damn… why is this so hard?"

I remembered watching something over Mokuba's shoulder one night. Ghosts only had a limited amount of energy and it took a lot to speak and way more to push things. I was glad for it because if Jounouchi was able to push the pitcher over I would have had to kill him again. Suddenly Jounouchi vanished. I took a breath. Finally.

"I won't be bullied gentlemen." I said. "You have my offer and if you decline I will find someone else." I was bluffing but they didn't know that and sure enough they pulled out a contract. "I'll look over this and get back to you. Now if you'll excuse me I have other things to do. Please enjoy your stay in Japan." I said and walked out the door and to the end of the hall with them, where we went our separate ways.

I headed toward my office and I couldn't help but smile. Jounouchi was finally gone and I wasn't crazy.

"Uh, big brother? Why are you making that face, it's creepy." Mokuba said and I turned to him.

"What face? I'm smiling." I said.

"Is that what you want to call it?" he teased.

"Shut up, Mokuba. You aren't happy when I'm feeling bad and you aren't happy when I'm happy. What do you want?"

"Normal you." He said.

"What does that mean?"

"Well I've noticed that you've been really weird since Jonouchi died and I know you didn't get along and I know that it's not just because he's just someone you knew who's gone now, it's deeper than that. Do you miss him?" he asked.

"Hell no." I said but the moment the words left my mouth I felt my heart twitch.

"Yeah, that's what I thought." Mokuba said then he walked over and hugged me. His body melted into mine and a let out a breath I didn't know I was holding.

It had been so long since anyone had hugged me and we were alone so I basked in it for a moment before taking him by the shoulders and pushing him back. That was when I noticed my shirt was cold and wet from where his face had been. "Mokuba?" he was crying.

"I miss him so much… that day he was supposed to hang out with me at the arcade after school." He said as best he could through his blubbering.

"I'm sorry, Mokuba." Why didn't he tell me he felt this way? I knew they spent time together but I had no idea that they were that close.

"You never liked him so I thought it would be best to keep our friendship a secret."

"You didn't have to do that. Just because I didn't care for him… well that doesn't mean that you had to hide anything from me, you are your own person."

"I see that now, I mean you miss him too." He said and before I could tell him I didn't he reached over and wiped a tear from my cheek.

"This is ridiculous, I don't miss him, one tear doesn't mean anything." I said and turned away. "Like you said when you get used to a person being around and then they are just gone it doesn't matter that you didn't get along its still…its surreal."

"Keep telling yourself that, that's the only reason. I know that you've been seeing him." I looked at him. "Roland told me. He was worried about you so don't get mad at him."

"Well I have an update on that; he disappeared during my meeting with James and Marcus. I haven't seen him since. I think I was just stressed about that meeting and I pictured him to push me into finishing what I started."

"Oh?" Mokuba gave me his trademark smirk. "You needed to picture him in order to do that?"

"Shut up. That's not what I meant."

"Uhuh." He smiled this time and I shook my head. At least he wasn't crying anymore.

"Anyway, I have a contract to read over." He said.

"We got it?"

"Yes." I said. "But I need to be careful with these two." James was up to something and I was glad that Jounouchi was gone because I needed all my brain power to read over the contract.

"Sweet! I know that Kaiba Land will be huge in America. And this means I can take trips there whenever I want."

"I'm glad you feel that way. When you turn eighteen I'm going to let you run that part of the corporation."

"Seriously?" he smiled even bigger this time.

"Yes." I said. "I think you can handle it and I will need some help." I admitted, I was grateful for my brother, the only one I could trust to help me. "I'll be looking over this contract for the rest of the day, why don't you go and see if Yugi and the others will go to the arcade with you. I know for a fact that Yugi needs to get out of the house."

"…are you sure?"

"I don't care." I said. He missed Jounouchi and I wasn't exactly the best person to help him get through that. The nerds were good at that cheering up crap. "Just be back by eight."

"Okay. Thanks!" he hugged me again and bounded down the hall and out of sight. I sighed and glanced down at the contract in my hands. It was going to be a long night but at least it was going to be quiet.


	8. Jounouchi

When I woke up I could feel the small spaces and hard wood against my back. I blinked open my eyes and waited for them to focus before I sat up. I looked around and found that I was in the school courtyard and apparently I had been sleeping on my memorial bench. The last thing I could remember was being in Seto's conference room and vengeance was about to be mine. I remembered feeling weak. I remembered watching my hand disappear and then nothing.

I sat back on the bench and glared up at the sky. What a tease. I mean I never finished my unfinished business but I kinda hopped that the gods were ready to accept me. Nothing in my life was easy and it was true for my death as well. I looked out over the courtyard and replayed memories as I saw familiar corners of the school. To the right, leading behind the building was a drainage system. Behind the building, where I couldn't see, I knew there was a classroom. I remember trying to teach Yugi to be a man. I remember so vividly tossing a piece of his puzzle into the drainage system.

He should have hated me for it, not that he knew it was me, but Karma should have taken care of it. That night I learned what true friendship was. I used to think that it was lame but you don't understand a bond like that unless you experience it. I kicked my feet out in front of me and the dirt swirled a bit before dying down.

I felt strong here. I stood and studied my hands, I looked more real here. I glanced at the bench. Could the bench have some sort of well of power stored up for me? I paused. I remembered feeling this strong and real before. Yes. When I ran into Kaiba's shower door. I rubbed my nose remembering the feeling.

Before I had time to analyze things I noticed a certain small Kaiba brother bound onto school grounds. "Hey, Jounouchi." He said to the bench but I didn't get my hopes up, I knew he couldn't see me.

"Hey, kid." I said anyway. I decided to indulge myself in feeling alive for a bit.

"You know if you could see Seto right now you'd be surprised. I've never seen him like this." He said.

"What are you talking about, he's still a prick. He won't believe in things even when they are right in front of him."

"He's taking your death harder than when we lost our parents. Even more than when our stepfather started abusing us." He continued. I had no clue about what happened to the Kaibas when they were younger. I always thought they had the good life. I sat down on the bench once more, next to Mokuba.

"I miss you too though. Before I knew what happened I got mad. I was waiting for you at the arcade. I feel so horrible."

"Ah, kid it's not your fault. Don't worry about that." I said. I wanted to let Mokuba know it was okay. I had to somehow. I reached out and with all my concentration and tried to ruffle his hair. A few of his hairs moved but it wasn't enough. I glared and swept my hand over his hair a bit harder. This time his hair moved forward like the wind was blowing through it. Mokuba sat up. There wasn't any wind today.

"You're here, aren't you?" he asked.

"Yes" I said and smiled at him. He looked at me but his eyes passed through me. It was enough though.

"cool." He said.

"Not the word I would use, more like frustrating." I said and we sat there in silence until the clock struck that school was letting out for the day. After a few moments my friends wondered out of the building. They were all talking to each other about something I couldn't hear. They spotted Mokuba and ran over. They stood silent in front of my bench to prey for a moment and could feel strength fill me.

"Hey, Mokuba." Yugi said. "What's up?"

"I'm feeling a little down…" he admitted. It was easier for him to be true to his feelings than it was for his brother. Concern filled Yugi's features.

"What's wrong?" Yugi asked finally. Anzu already had her arm wrapped around Mokuba's shoulders in a small gesture of worry.

"It's Seto." He said. "Ever since…" he paused but everyone knew and so he continued, "well he hasn't been the same."

"What do you mean?" Honda asked. "He looked okay on the cover of GQ magazine, and on the news talking about his new project."

"No, the business side is fine… it's…" he shook his head and I could tell it was hard for him to find the right words. He knew that none of my friends really cared for Kaiba. They cared but in the way people care for each other in general. He never quite treated them right even after all they had been through. At the same time, I knew that my friends would always give him a chance.

"He's different." Mokuba finished.

"I guess you would know that better than we would." Yugi said. "Maybe we can do something to cheer him up." That was Yug' for ya. I smiled.

"I don't know what would work." Mokuba said.

"We'll think of something." Anzu said. "For now, let's cheer you up." Mokuba Blushed. Did the little guy have a crush on the old Anzu? I smirked and then frowned; I wouldn't be able to tease him about it…

"Well I was actually here to see if you had time to go to the arcade today. I have a feeling that Jounouchi is here with us and I made a promise to him." He said.

"That sounds fun." Yugi said and together we walked to the arcade. The conversation consisted of what everyone did at school and I was happy to listen because I felt alive again. In no time we reached the arcade and went inside.

Eventually everyone drifted off to their own favorite games and Yugi and Mokuba played a zombie killing game. It was better to play with Yugi than against him. I smiled as Mokuba laughed and enjoyed himself. It was great to see him happy again.

I glanced around the room and spotted Honda siting in the seat of a car game looking at the high scores. I walked over and sat in the seat next to him. My name was on the top, but his was beneath mine.

It started after the gangs, when our friendship was still new. I smiled at the memory. We had spent all summer trying to best each other in this racing game. When someone got the high score the other would beat it the next day. Every time since then it had been a tug-a-war for the top space.

Anzu came over and placed her hand on Honda's knee. "I could have beaten his score just now… but I just couldn't let myself do it." he said to her. "If I did that then… I guess that would mean he was really gone."

"Oh, Honda…" she said. She couldn't say much. What was there to say? I stood up and I could feel anger surge through me. I had to get Kaiba to help me somehow. I had to move on because I couldn't stand to see my friend suffering anymore. Because if I couldn't let go then how could I expect them to. I left the arcade and I headed toward Kaiba's mansion.

When I got there the sky was a dark violet and there was only one light on in the house. Seto's room. I watched from the front gate as his silhouette paced past the window. I slipped through the fence and walked through the door.

It was hard to navigate in the dark but I tried to remember the path to Seto's room and when I came to his door I stopped. I had no idea how I would convince him but I wouldn't give up. I placed my hand on the door hoping it would pass through but deep down I knew it wouldn't. Sure enough I could feel the cold wooded object against my fingers.

I reached for the handle then pulled back to knock. I waited for a moment and Seto pulled the door open. Surprise flickered in his eyes but it was only for an instant. "Somehow I knew it was too good to be true." He said and paused, "If you are a ghost then why are you knocking?"

"I don't know." I said. "Every time you are around I can't seem to go through things." I paused… I hadn't noticed it before but now that I thought about it, it was true. "I've never been dead before, how should I know how it works?" I said, a little angrier than I wanted to.

"I see." Was all he said before he pulled back from the doorway in invitation. "It seems that the only way to get rid of you is to help you." He said. I walked into his room and he shut the door behind us.


	9. Seto

I don't know what lead me to let him in, you give a stray a few scraps and they move in. Though I let him into my office it took a while for either of us to say anything. I took a breath, ready to speak but of course, the loud mouth had to go first.

"Look, I know you don't want me here," that was an understatement, "and I want to be here even less than you want me here." He continued. I was growing impatient but I let him talk. "The only way I am going to move on is for you to help me. You are the only one who can see me and as much as I wish it were someone else… well it's not. All I have is you." I waited to see if he was finished before I took another breath.

"It seems we are on the same page because it looks like the only way I can get my mental health back in order is to get rid of you." I said.

"Are you telling me that you still think this is an illusion, that I am not here?" he was angry, well what did he expect? There are no such things as ghosts. "I'm right here, talking to you." He said, then before I could stop him his hand came up to touch my cheek. "I can feel you." He said.

Indeed, I could feel warmth from his fingers, I could feel the soft wind of his breath against my face, and I could even smell that particular brand of Axe body spray he used. Could it be that my imagination was that good? That my memory of him was that potent? He withdrew his hand and shoved it in his pocket and I could feel the tingle on my cheek at the absence of his warmth.

"Look. I guess it doesn't matter if you are real or not." I said. "I am going to help you. What's the first step?"

"Well, normally when someone becomes a ghost there is unfinished business so I was thinking we could find my killer. He got away right?" it was true, no one had tracked down the shooter yet but they were still searching. "I know who it was."

"Even if you do, do you have evidence?" I asked. "The police are not going to just take my word for it. They'll want to know how I know and I can't very well tell them I was contacted by a ghost…" it sounded ridiculous saying it out loud.

"I don't but we can search for some when we find him." He said.

"Alright, who was it?" it did bother me that he was out there still, hell he could snap again and kill someone else I knew. He could hurt Mokuba.

"It was Yoshi." He said and explained to me how he used to bully Yoshi a while ago. He told me about the day of the shooting, he remembered every detail of that time.

"Yoshi." I said. "That's going to be a problem. He transferred out of school the next day because he said that it was a very traumatic experience for him." I felt anger flare up in the pit of my stomach. Traumatic for him?

"Whoa, hey are you okay?" Jounouchi asked suddenly. "The vain in your forehead is getting big." He said and poked at my forehead. I yanked away and glared at him. "So where can we find him then?"

"I can try his house but if he is trying to get away with this then he's probably not there anymore." I said. "I'll find him." I vowed and walked over to my desk and sat in front of my computer. Jounouchi followed and stood behind me, peering over my shoulder as I worked.

I typed and searched for hours until I came up with an address and I printed out the location before turning back to Jounouchi. I paused seeing him sleeping on the couch across from my desk. Ghosts can sleep? I walked over to him and noticed him shivering. And get cold? I let out a sigh of annoyance and pulled off my white jacked before draping it over him. Good. I thought. Now I could find Yoshi and end this without Jounouchi getting in the way.

I left the room and bumped into Mokuba. "Hey bro." he said.

"I thought you were at the arcade with Yugi and the others." I said.

"I was but we all had homework to catch up on. It was fun, I'm glad you talked me into doing It." he said

"Well good." Was all I could say? "I'm glad you feel better."

"Um, who were you talking to in your office?" he asked suddenly. "I was going to bother you before but you were talking."

"I was on the phone." I lied; I couldn't even tell my brother I was talking to a ghost.

"That's funny because I have the phone right here. It wasn't on the hook. You know how you wonder around with it."

"I was on the speaker phone."

"Oh? I only heard your voice."

"What do you want?"

"Well, you went to the hospital and you seem sad, now you are talking to yourself." He said. "I was thinking that you could let me take over the company for a while and you can take a vacation."

"Vacation," I snorted, "I don't know the meaning of the word. Why waste time doing nothing when you can be productive."

"Yes, but if you don't take a break then you could make mistakes. I never saw you grieve over what happened at school."

"Why would I grieve? I didn't care about Jounouchi." He gave me a sly look and I knew it was because I used his name instead of a degrading nickname. "You don't speak ill of the dead." I said quickly.

"Maybe so, but it is still a part of your life that is missing, even if he did annoy you, he is something that's missing."

"Mokuba, you can't take over the company for a couple of years yet. You aren't of age."

"What about America?"

"You will get to run that, as I said but it will take time to set everything up. Also, the Americans are trying to play with me. This game is one I am very familiar with." I sighed. "I know that you are worried about me but I am fine."

"Well just take it easy then." Mokuba said, defeated.

"I will." I said and tousled his hair. He glared at me and fixed his hair. "I have something I need to check on I will be back later." I said.

"Okay." He said faintly as I walked away from him. I hated lying to my brother but I hated hurting him like this even more. Once Jounouchi was gone things would go back to normal. They had to.

I got into my car and drove clear of the grounds, toward the address I had written down. Yoshi would pay for what he did.

As I drove I began to think of what Mokuba said, about missing Jounouchi only because he is a part that's missing. He was a great outlet from my anger. My hands dug into the steering wheel at the thought of how annoying he could be sometimes. I let out a breath; it did seem quiet without him around (well before he showed up again, that is).

I pulled up a small house and parked before getting out. I checked the paper in my hand again to make sure I was at the right place. I was. I looked up at the door but something was wrong. As I approached the door I could see that it wasn't closed all the way. I pushed the door open and stepped inside. The place was covered in dust and nothing had been picked up in weeks. I made a face of disgust.

"This place is worse than mine and my dad's place." Startled, I turned to find Jounouchi standing behind me.

"What are you doing here?"

"Duh, I want to catch Yoshi." He said.

"No, I mean, I thought you were asleep."

"I was. But right after you left Mokuba came into your office and yanked up your jacked, thanks for that by the way, and I woke up." He said "then I found the address and decided to follow you. You could have waked me."

"I wanted to do this without you distracting me."

"Jerk. Two heads are better than one."

"Well your head counts as negative one." I said quickly and he playfully punched me in the arm. I went to hit him back but thought against it. I was too scared to find out if he would feel me like I felt him.

"So find any clues yet?"

"I just walked in. stay here." I said but when I started walking he followed anyway. We walked into the adjacent room, the kitchen, but it was the same as the hall. Every room seemed to be unused for weeks. It was as I feared, Yoshi must have run away. There had to be a clue as to where he went somewhere."

So Jounouchi and I continued until the entire downstairs was searched. We headed upstairs and I felt something in the pit of my stomach. I couldn't be sure what it was exactly but it felt something like panic. I ignored it and continued until I reached the top of the steps. It was then that an awful smell surrounded me. I knew it instantly.

"What is that?" Jounouchi asked and gaged.

"Didn't you used to be in a gang?"

"Yes, why?"

"Never mind. Just stay here. I mean it."

"fine." He said. And I followed the smell to where it was most potent. I hesitated before opening the door and when I did I found what I was expecting. Yoshi's stiff lifeless body hung from the ceiling.


	10. Jounouchi

I heard Kaiba curse so I decided to follow him to the last room. I stepped around him and noticed Yoshi's body. I could feel all hope leave my body and my shoulders became heavy. I would never find piece now. I would have to watch my friends suffer and eventually move on without me… which, I guess is what I wanted; I just didn't want to watch it happen. Maybe this is what happened to people who went to "hell".

"This isn't over. We will simply find out what happened to Yoshi. We can still let everyone know he was the killer even if he's dead." Kaiba said. "If it is a suicide then he left a note confessing to his crime."

Was Kaiba trying to cheer me up? I looked at him for a moment and nodded. "I guess I don't need to give up just yet. I have plenty of time so I guess it doesn't matter how long it takes."

"I told you to stay where you were, by the way." He pointed out.

"Oh and I always do what you say?" I said and then I thought about it. He must have been trying to protect me from the sight of Yoshi. And that was probably why he asked if I was in a gang. It was true that I was in a gang but I was never a part of killing anyone.

"Let's just look for the note, this smell is too much." Kaiba said and stocked into the room. I watched him for a moment. He searched the room quickly and when he found nothing he started to look under things. I felt my pulse quicken when my eyes wondered down to his perfect ass. He wasn't bad to look at. "Are you going to help me, or what?" he asked, bringing me back to reality.

"I'm just not used to seeing you work." I said. "I'm surprised you are even touching anything in this room."

"I would have someone do it for me but I don't need the world finding out that I am talking to a ghost." He said. "Fuck, there's no note here." He said finally.

"Maybe he just didn't care." I said.

"No, that just doesn't fit." He said. "There has to be an explanation for this. Let's call the police and leave an anonymous tip. Let them get their reports together. I'll hack into the system and figure out what really happened."

"Don't you think that's a lot of work?" I asked.

"It has to be done that way. How will I explain coming here and finding the body of a classmate I didn't even know? It will be too much hassle. You said you have plenty of time. I am sure you can find something to entertain yourself while we wait."

"So you are just going to ditch me?" I glared at him.

"No, I told you I would help you and I will. I am a man of my word. We just have to be patient." He said. "Besides I have a busy calendar and this little day trip set me behind big time."

"And what exactly should I entertain myself with my friends being in pain over my death or my family replacing me?" I paused.

"What are you talking about?" Kaiba asked but I didn't answer, "Whatever. You can come to the office with me if you are good."

"I'll be good." I said, "Unless you invite those American douche bags."

"In business you have to deal with..."

"Douche Bags," I interrupted.

"Unsavory people to make progress." he said, ignoring my comment. "I don't have a meeting with them today anyway." he said. "Let's get out of here."

We left Yoshi's and got into the car and headed back into the city toward Kaiba Corp. Kaiba was a quiet driver but he was calculating in every action he took. No wonder he was grouchy most of the time. His brain probably never let him have a break. Yugi and Mokuba's plan to throw him a party might actually be a good idea. Maybe there was some way I could help make it happen or at least get him to show up.

We reached the ginormous office building in no time and Kaiba parked in his executive spot and we both walked into the building.

"Good Morning, Mr. Kaiba," said a cute secretary at the front gate. "Your brother has been waiting for you in your office."

"Mokuba? What does he want?"

"I didn't ask." she admitted but Kaiba only nodded at her and took a folder from her when she handed it to him."

"What's all that stuff," I asked Kaiba gave me a look but basically ignored me. Right. I was a ghost and if he answered me people would think he was crazy. We walked to the elevator and when it closed he looked at me.

"What did you mean about your family replacing you?" he asked suddenly. I was a little shocked but I just shrugged I didn't feel like getting into it. "In any case no one could replace you." He said and the door opened. I watched him walk midway down the hall before I followed him. Was he really trying to be nice?

"Hey, big brother." Mokuba said as Seto opened the door to his office. "Where have you been?" he asked.

"I had a few errands to run. Since when do you care and why aren't you in school?" Seto asked and while they spoke a move around them to sit on the couch he had in the office.

"I was worried about you. I am worried about you." Mokuba said.

"There isn't anything for you to be worried about, I told you that before." He sighed, "And I don't want to talk about this now."

"Why not? You have time."

"I do not."

"Yes you do, I saw your schedule." Mokuba pointed to the folder in Seto's hand. "You have a meeting in an hour so you have time now to talk about Jounouchi."

"Talk about me? What does he mean?" Seto's face twitched and I could tell he was trying not to look at me.

"There's nothing to talk about. I don't miss that mutt. I am fine. Life goes on." He said and it stung a bit. What did I expect? He wasn't helping me because I needed it. He was helping me because it would get rid of me.

"You are such a bad liar." Mokuba said. "Just admit that you miss him and I will leave you alone."

"I'm not going to admit to a thing. I don't care. I have more important things to think about like getting you ready to run the company in America and finalizing the deal with the Americans."

"You are going to get me ready? How? You said I was too young."

"You are but if I can get you ready perhaps there might be a work-around." He paused. "Actually, maybe it would be a good idea for you to go the next meeting with the Americans."

"Really?" Mokuba smirked, "I know I can handle it." he smiled, "I'll go back to school then we can talk more about this." He hugged Kaiba, "I won't let you down." He said and ran down the hall to catch the elevator.

"Nice trick. You won't get rid of me that easily though." I said when Kaiba closed the door and we were alone.

"Trust me, I know." He said and sat at his desk. "You need to be quiet now."

"Wow, this is so boring." I said after about five minutes. "Can I watch TV?"

"No. that's too distracting and if you don't like it you can always leave." He said.

"Then you would miss me." I smirked. "Mokuba's right. I think you miss me a little bit. I mean now you don't have a rival."

"Rival? You?" he laughed. "To be my rival you have to be equal to me in power. And that will never happen…" he paused.

"You're right because I'm dead. And that's my point, well Mokuba's point. I will never get that chance and you will never get the chance to see it. You have to admit that every time you would face me I would get better."

"Shut up." Seto said pushing up from his desk. "You don't know a damn thing."

"Then why are you getting so angry?"

"As soon as we send you to wherever you are going then we will be even and I can move on." He said. "This was a mistake, you should go. I'll see you when I get off work." He said and grabbed my arm and shoved me toward the door. "Get out."

"Fine, damn." I pulled the door open and he shoved me out. My arm was warm where he grabbed me but froze again the second he let go. The door slammed behind me and I sighed at his mood swings. I rolled my eyes and headed to the elevator but when I got there I couldn't push the buttons. Damn! I looked at the emergency stairs and sighed one-hundred and ten stories to the bottom.

When I finally made it to the lobby my body was almost completely invisible to me. That decent took up most of my energy. I scanned the Lobby for a place to rest but was distracted when I noticed a car just outside the building. But the car wasn't what was bothering me. It was the man behind the wheel; it was one of the Americans. He was up to something so I stalked across the lobby and out the door but when I reached the car I had completely used up my energy. I could feel myself fading and there wasn't anything I could do about it. And everything faded into black.


	11. Seto

After getting rid of the mutt I didn't feel any better since his words hit so close to home. The thing about that dog was that he could be so in tuned to how people really were. Not like I would admit any of that to anyone. I looked at the door and wondered if I should have let him stay. He was getting on my nerves though. I turned back to my computer in an attempt to get him out of my mind. I never would have cared about kicking him out before.

I tried to finish my work but all I could think about was his broken face when he saw Yoshi hanging there. "Well, it serves him right for following me when I told him not to." I ran a hand through my hair; I couldn't get that look out of my mind. I saved my work and decided to call it a day. I shut down my computer and grabbed my coat.

As I exited the elevator I was greeted by Roland, who was there to inform me that two suspicious people had been spotted outside the building. I thanked him for the information and carefully made my way out to the door. I looked around but there didn't seem to be anyone looking too interested in me. Still, I was careful as I made my way to my car.

I opened the door and sank into the seat before pulling the door closed. I fumbled around with the keys and glared when they fell out of my hands, landing on the passenger's side floor. As bent down to pick up the keys I could hear a faint beep coming from the ground.

I got out of the car and looked beneath it to find a small car bomb. "Shit." I backed away from the car and pulled out my cell phone to call Roland but the radio waves from my phone must have set the bomb off because the next thing I knew there was a huge flash and my hearing gave out along with my consciousness.

When I woke up my ears were still ringing and my throat felt dry. I could feel small burns and pains on my skin as my wounds woke with me. I winced at the flash of pain running through my body but I didn't have time to worry about that yet. I looked around to find that I was tied to a chair in the middle of a warehouse.

"Have a nice nap, Mr. Kaiba?" I knew that voice. It was one of the Americans. "I must admit that I am surprised you were smart enough to get out of that car when you did. My bomb maker isn't very good, to think that anyone using a cell phone in that area could have been blown to smithereens."

"What do you think you are doing? Let me go." I said, "You think I am going to give you the contract if you threaten me?"

"Contract? We don't care about that." He said and leaning in closer. "If we wanted the contract then what would be the point of killing you? For a genius you aren't too smart."

"You bastard!" the next instant I was met with the back of his boney hand, my face now felt as if it were on fire but I wouldn't give him the satisfaction of making me scream.

"Listen, I am going to share my master plan with you." The American smirked, "you see, our government has become sloppy and no longer cares about the needs of the people. And I had an idea; I should take America back for the people. How do I do that? Well, I need an army and several weapons that America has never seen."

"You…" Militia? People who wanted to overthrow the government. He needs weapons… that means…

"I can tell by the look in your eyes that you know the next part of the plan. Yes, your father had interesting weapons and plans for developing never before seen weapons. We are here to get everything."

"I destroyed everything."

"Oh, come now, we both know that's not true. You are a man of science, you wouldn't do that. Lock them away? Yes. But destroy? I don't think so."

"I won't help you." I said.

"You will, dead or alive. You see while you were busy doing god knows what we discovered your little hiding place and the key we need is right here." The man said and pointed to my right hand. "Now I could just kill you and cut off your hand or you can join me. We could use someone of your intelligence on our team, also it would be a big help if you could help us bring your father's plans to life."

"I won't help you." I said, "I'll die before I help you."

"Ah, I will give you some time to think about it." The American said before leaving.

There was no way I would help them. My stepfather's goals were something I never intended to help with. I didn't want Kaiba Corps to be known for war. I sat back trying to remain calm and figure out a way out of the chair. Suddenly I noticed a mop of yellow hair from the corner of my eye. The mutt was here.

"What are you doing here?" I asked him being careful to hide the pain I was feeling. "How did you know to find me here?"

"I noticed those guys outside your office but then I lost energy and disappeared. As soon as I rejuvenated at my memorial I came back as fast as I could but when I got there I saw your car. "Jounouchi's eyes peered into mine and his gaze looked me over. "You are lucky you made it out." Jounouchi finally sighed. "Anyway, a couple of guys were talking about you so I overheard that they had you here."

"I see." I said, "Hurry, they are going to come back." I sighed, "now that I know _they_ tried to kill me they are done."

"Don't you need that contract? America will be a big leap for you."

"I don't need to make deals with them. I can find someone else..." I said, not wanting to let him know how I was fooled. I grimaced when the mutt cut my hands free. I rubbed my wrists and stood up but I had been sitting in that chair for so long that I lost balance, how undignified… Then I felt strong arms around my waist.

"Careful." Jounouchi said, his breath tickling my ear, I tried to pull away but he held me tighter. "Just let me help you, damn." He was stubborn and I wanted to get out of there so I wrapped an arm around his neck and let him walk me out of the building. It still boggled my mind that he was able to hold me this way, he felt as alive as I was. I looked away, that's right, he was dead.

"You are being awfully quiet." He said but did he have to fill the silence? It just made things more awkward. I pulled away from him when we reached the door.

"Let's just keep going." I said and just as we were about to walk out I heard footsteps all around us and men yelling in front of us. "Shit." I grabbed Jounouchi by the collar and yanked him behind a couple of huge crates. "No doubt they will shoot us on sight… uh, me, shoot me on sight. They have no reason to keep me alive."

"You didn't have to pull me in here with you, I am already dead. Maybe I can take out a few of them."

"With what?" I asked, was he stupid? What am I saying; of course… it was the mutt after all. "You are a ghost, how will you do that?"

"Well I have noticed that I am more alive when I am near you." He said and suddenly my heart skipped a beat. I ignored it and watched him as he grabbed a lead pipe from the rubble behind us. "See. I guess you give me strength." He said. Ugh, why was everything he said making me feel things…

"Okay, what about you, if you exert yourself too much you'll fade away, I'll be alone again." He looked at me suddenly.

"I won't let that happen. I will stay by your side until you are safe." He grabbed my hand and I flinched, I wanted him to stop touching me, I didn't want to think he was alive… he was dead! I tried to pull my hand free but in the next instant I noticed that he had curled his pinkie around mine. "Promise."

"Child…" I glared and yanked my hand back though deep down I was glad to have such a promise. Not that I was scared or that I couldn't handle any of this alone, of course. It was still nice.

"Find him!" Shouted a man and Jounouchi drew the pipe back but I grabbed his elbow and pulled him back toward me.

"Don't just charge in there." I warned.

"They can't see me." Jounouchi reminded me.

"Still, use your head."

"That implies you think I have one." He smiled and added, "it's progress."

"Shut up." I let him go and carefully peeked around the crate, there were three shadows on the ground, and three men were headed toward us. I pointed to the shadows and followed Jounouchi carefully as he headed toward the closest guy. I didn't know how far we could be away from each other before Jounouchi lost the power to hold tangible things.

I stayed behind a bench and watched as Jounouchi stalked over to the first man and lifted the pipe. The sound of metal meeting skull rang out followed by a loud dropping noise. The man had fallen and Jounouchi grinned at me with that big dumb smile of his.

I walked over to him slowly and punched him in the arm, "don't celebrate." I said and patted down the unconscious man and grabbed his gun. "We have to keep moving." I whispered and ducked behind a table and pulled the gun up and aimed at the second guy.

"You sure you want to do that?" Jounouchi asked me.

"He's trying to kill me; I won't just stand around and have a moral dilemma about it. I do that and I could die. You can't reason with a killer." I said and suddenly Jounouchi's face dropped. "What?" I paused, "Yoshi… is that… you tried to talk to him… Damn it, how could you be so stupid?" before I could stop myself the words were out of my mouth.

"…you are right…"

"No. I…m sorry." I said quietly. Though it wasn't perfectly spoken I was sorry and it was one of the few times I actually meant it. "Look, we don't have time for this. We have to get out of here first." I took aim once more and shot the second man in the leg, waited for the third man to go to his aide. When the third man arrived I shot in the air above them sending a hanging crate down on top of them.

"Bad ass." I heard Jounouchi say, I guess he was fine again. I quickly made my way out of that room and peered around the corner through an open door that lead outside. There were no men there but I could hear guys coming from behind us. In front of us was a boat dock but there were no boats. We'd have to swim. I sprinted out the door and yanked it closed behind us. I tossed the gun into the water and dove in.

I began swimming as fast as I could but when the door behind us burst open a shower of bullets came down around me. I dove under the surface and tried to swim away but I was too slow and a bullet lodged itself into my leg. I was torn between my need to scream and my need to hold my breath. I couldn't stop. I had to keep going. And the last thing I could remember was swimming until everything was dark.


	12. Jounouchi

After Kaiba was shot in the leg he wasn't looking too good. He swam for a good mile before the pain consumed him and he passed out. Luckily I am solid when he is around so it was easy for me to grab hold of him. As my arms wrapped around him I was taken aback by how thin yet muscular he was. But then again, it was no surprise since he did just swim a mile with a bullet in his leg.

I dragged him out of the water when we were a safe distance away. I knew this district very well from my gang days, and I had no choice, so I brought Kaiba to one of my old hideouts. I managed to sling his arm over my shoulder and drag him to safety. I helped him to a couch in the corner. I placed him on the couch and started looking at his wound. The blood was still pouring out fast and the bullet hadn't gone through.

I looked around the small hideout and smiled, luckily this was one we went to when we needed to get patched up after a police raid. We were lucky because after the gang disbanded the cops set out to find every last hideout. I guess they didn't find this one. I left Kaiba's side and hurried to get a medical kit. I found one and returned to him. I had never killed anyone, that was true, but I did help my fellow gang members with bullet wounds before.

I took the scissors from the kit and cut open the bottom of Kaiba's slacks before rolling them up. I looked at his pale face. I was hard to look at his face in this weakened state because it was so unlike what I was used to seeing from this man. I looked away and focused on getting the bullet out of his leg. It took some time but I finally removed the bullet and Kaiba let out a scream of pain.

I looked at him for a second but this time his face was filled with relief. Good. I bandaged him up tightly and was going to cover him with old blanket before I noticed his blue lips. I had to get him out of those wet clothes. I left him again to search the rooms we used to stay in but no one had left any clothes behind.

I glanced down at what I was wearing, my favorite hoodie, I wondered. I started to tug at my hoodie and it came off. I smiled. Awesome. It wasn't much but it would have to do until his clothes dried. I headed back to him and hovered over his form. His face was at piece now that the bleeding had stopped.

I lightly traced my fingers over his eyebrows and over his cheeks. His mouth opened slightly and before I knew it my fingers were tracing his soft lips. I swallowed hard. What was I doing? I pulled my hand away and carefully pulled off his wet shirt. The smell of him surrounded me when I pulled his shirt over his head.

I tried to ignore it but it was a cool and refreshing scent, like the ocean at night. I shook off my weird feelings and ignored his toned chest as I pulled my hoodie over his head. The back of my fingers brushed over his soft chest and I looked at his perfect face again.

"Get it together, this is Seto Kaiba." I said to myself and once Kaiba was out of his wet clothes I got up to hang them to dry.

I watched him sleep for several hours, wearing my hoodie and wrapped up in a blanket he looked innocent and helpless. I knew Kaiba better than that and he was anything but. But that got me thinking, had Kaiba ever had the chance to be innocent? Maybe there was more to him than met the eye.

I sat back and pondered that for a moment until Kaiba opened his eyes and groaned softly for coffee.

"Fresh out of coffee." I said and Seto sat up with a start. "Whoa, calm down."

"What's going on? Where are we? What did you do with my clothes?"

"You forgot the when and why." I teased, "Anyway, relax. You were shot so I brought you to an old hideout of mine and got the bullet out of you. Your clothes are drying; if you would have stayed in them then you could have gotten sick."

"Wh… oh, right." Seto said, "Uh, thanks…"

"I'm sorry, what?" I couldn't believe my ears.

"I'm not saying it again."

"Okay then could you at least admit that I am real? After all if I wasn't then how did you get here? No one knows about this place."

"Fine." He said. "I suppose it isn't outside the range of possibilities that you could be real."

"Eh, I'll take it." I said.

"So, if my clothes are done then we need to leave."

"I don't think so." I said. "You are not leaving in that condition. You'll stay here and rest. I will get us food and I will get you fresh clothes."

"How will you do that if I stay here?" he asked. "You can't touch anything if I am too far from you. Don't think I haven't noticed that."

"You're right." My shoulders slumped.

"You really are an idiot." He said but it didn't make me mad, no, it felt playful. "I will have Roland bring us a few things."

"You can't do that. You don't know who you can trust."

"Roland would give his life for me."

"Maybe so but if someone is watching him then we don't know. As far as they know you could be dead. We need to lie low until we can figure out what's going on."

"I know what's going on." He said. "They want to find my stepfather's old creations and use them to attack the American government."

"Heavy." I said.

"Yeah… oh no. Mokuba!" he said suddenly, "what will happen to him?"

"I can go check on him for you." I offered, I couldn't pick up things but I could watch people. But then how could I protect Mokuba if something was wrong?

"Why would you do that?"

"What?" I asked. "I'll do anything for my friends." I said.

"Mokuba is your friend, that's true."

"No." I paused, "Well, yes, he is but so are you." I said and before he could say anything else I was at the door. "I'll be back soon. If I am not then I probably lost energy so I'll be back tomorrow. Don't leave." I said and left.

I hurried through the door, my face was red and my heart was pounding more than it ever had when I was alive. I was shaken from my thoughts when Kaiba's shirt, which was hanging on a fence post to dry, flew away. It was the only shirt he had. I ran after it and when I grabbed it I noticed a newspaper stuck to it. I pulled the paper off and paused.

I looked back toward where I left Kaiba, I was well out of the range where I could touch things and yet here I was, holding a newspaper. I looked at Kaiba's shirt in my other hand and smiled before I pulled it on. I headed out to find Mokuba and now I could protect him if I had to.

* * *

I returned to the hideout a few hours later, I didn't feel weak at all and I think it was partly because of Kaiba's shirt. I opened the door and found Kaiba on the couch reading a comic book. "What are you doing?"

"This garbage is hardly entertaining." He said.

"Is that why you are on volume seven?" I teased and crossed the room to place the groceries and clothes on the table next to him.

"How do you have those things?" Kaiba asked

"Magic." I said. "It seems that your shirt gave me enough power to carry things."

"Did you find Mokuba? Is he okay?" Kaiba asked

"He's fine. After you went missing Roland arranged for Mokuba to "study abroad"." I said.

"Oh, good. It was a safety measure I put in place in case something happened to me. It's weird that he acted so fast though."

"Not really. I was listening in on him and he said that something was up because he knows you so well."

"I told you he has my back."

"I know, but you can't be too careful. What these guys want is World War Three shit." I said. "We have to stop them."

"I know that, first of all, the Kaiba name will be hurt if this happens. I don't want my company to kill or hurt anyone ever again." He said and I thrust an instant lunch at him. "What is this?"

"It's good." I said and pulled the clear wrapper off of mine before stuffing my face. "Being with you makes me hungry." I glanced up at him and he was eyeing his lunch like it was foreign. "What are you doing?" I asked

"I can't eat this." He said. "What's in it?"

"You really are a drama queen." I said. "It might not be what you are used to but it's good. Try it." I said. "And anyway it's all we've got."

I watched as Kaiba finally pulled the plastic off of his instant lunch. He picked up his chopsticks and sighed before taking a bite. I smiled at the small twitch to Kaiba's features. He must have been hungry because he started stuffing is face.

"I suppose, for common food, it is passable." He said and continued eating. "What is it about me that gives you the ability to be tangible?" he asked suddenly.

"I have no idea. It doesn't make any sense to me but you play the hand you are dealt." I shrugged and cleaned up a bit after I finished eating.

"Well, I won't be able to help with the Yoshi thing until I can get back into my office," he said, "I need to figure out how to deal with the Americans."

"We'll do that first then. It's not like I don't have time." I said. To be honest I was enjoying my time with rich boy. It was starting to make me feel sad to know that I would have to say goodbye to him.

"True. Besides, you being a ghost might come in handy." He sat back, sinking into the couch. I watched him for a moment and moved to knell in front of him, he looked at me with questioning eyes and I reached for the covers. I pushed the covers up a bit to reveal his leg.

"How is your leg?" I asked

"I won't be running any marathons anytime soon but it feels alright." he said and took a sharp breath when I started to undo his bandages.

"I'll change the bandages then." I said.

"You did that pretty well by the way." He said softly

"Yeah, I was always better at patching up my gang than I was at putting bullets in the rival gang."

After I had changed his bandages I persuaded him to take a few painkillers and waited for him to fall asleep before trying to leave the room. As I stood up I felt a hand grab my wrist. "Don't leave me." I looked back at Kaiba and froze but he was fast asleep. "I don't want you to leave."

"I don't want to leave." I said and sat down next to him.


	13. Seto

Fire. My eyes opened quickly and my hands were clenched into fists. My leg was on fire, the pain was more potent than when it had first began. I sat up quickly and thats when I noticed the Mutt sleeping in the chair next to mine. It was pissing me off, how much I had relied on him the day before.

Well, no more. I shifted and the pain in my leg spread through my entire body. I let out a curse and the Mutt woke up.

"Take it easy, Kaiba." he said and came to lend me his support. I shoved his hands away and glared at him.

"Don't touch me." I said. I didn't need his help.

"Hey, now, just relax. I'll get you more painkillers," he said.

"I don't want them. I want to get back to work so I can get rid of you and get back to my life." I said, suddenly I felt bad for saying it. I ignored the feeling and yanked the covers away and forced myself to stand. My leg gave out and suddenly I was falling.

"Watch out!" the mutt said and caught me by the arm, his other hand was on my chest to steady me. "Careful," he muttered and I noticed his face was too close to mine and i could feel heat rise to my face.

"Shut up." I yanked away from him, ignoring the sharp pain that followed.

"I know you hate this but nothing will get solved by acting so recklessly."

"Look who's giving me the lecture on recklessness." I pinched the bridge of my nose in annoyance.

"Just relax."

"Don't tell me to relax!" I shouted and the mutt's face crinkled in anger.

"If not for me you'd be dead, pretty boy. You'd be…"

"Like you? I wont get so careless. I could have made it out of that situation on my own."

"I wasn't careless, it's not my fault I am like this now."

"With your back ground I am sure it would have happened eventually anyway." I said and a look of hurt washed over the mutt's face for an instant and then it was gone. He stood up. "Look…" at his tone of voice I knew I had gone too far and it wasn't how I felt at all.

"No, I know how you feel about me. I know that will never change. I hate this situation too but I am trying to make the best of it. After all what is the point of fighting with you when I am dead?" he said. "I know this sucks but just rest here until you can walk," he said, "we'll fix everything and then you can be done with me," and that was the last thing he said to me for two hours.

I was getting restless and my leg was throbbing more than ever. I reached over for the bottle of painkillers but ended up knocking them over where they rolled onto the floor. I let out a sigh of annoyance and was about to bend over to pick them up when Jounouchi held them out in front of me. I took the bottle, neither of us said a word.

He went back to his place on the chair and glanced out the window though they were so filmy that there was no possible way he could see anything. I could tell that he really hated being near me now. Why was he staying here then? I know that my presence gives him strength but he's been away from me before.

"Why are you even staying here with me?" I asked, my voice cracked from nonuse and I took the bottle of water from the table and took a drink and another to swallow the pills.

"I'm not that type of person," he said.

"What?"

"I wouldn't leave a man while he's down." He said and went back to ignoring me.

So I was finally getting silence from him but it was unsettling and I didn't like it. What was wrong with me? I tried to make myself comfortable on the couch but when I brought my leg up i noticed fresh blood seeping through the bandage.

"Dammit!" I sat up again and tried to bring my leg closer so I could take a look at it but it was impossible. Suddenly I felt a warm hand on my ankle, I looked up and saw Jounouchi studying my bandage. His hand slid up my leg slightly and I shifted uncomfortably, not because of his touch but because it felt nice.

"Just lay back. Let someone else take care of you. I promise you wont owe me anything," he said and left the room to get a fresh bandage.

I won't owe him anything? What does that mean? I stare at the door he left through for some time and wonder before a sudden anger washes over me. Bull shit. Everyone wants something, nothing is free.

"What's with that face?" Jounouchi asked

"You think you know me?"

"Excuse me?"

"Well, you don't. So just…" I started to feel heavy and the air in the room became pleasantly warm. I could feel my body sway slightly.

"Just what?" he pressed, his deep Honey eye's bore into mine but I couldn't look away. "You're being very strange." He said, and, placing both hands on the couch on either side of me, he leaned in closer. My lazy eyes shifted down to his plump lips for a second before I closed them in agitation. "Do you have a fever?" he asked and placed his hand on my forehead. "Sure do."

"I don't have a fever. I don't get fevers."

"I'm sure the fever gods just didn't get the message that you are the great Seto Kaiba." he mocked.

"Shut up."

"You mean to tell me you've never gotten a fever in your life?" he asked. "Let me guess, you would just ignore them and work as usual." And there he goes again. This was getting irritating, how can this mutt talk to me like he knows me?

"Just wrap up my leg and go back over there."

"No, you have a fever. If you don't relax and let me take care of you I'm going to haunt you for the rest of your life even after we solve this thing."

"You wouldn't."

"Hey, I have nothing to live or die for, I have plenty of time," he just wouldn't give up.

I did feel a bit warm and the meds were causing my mind to buzz pleasantly. I suppose letting him take care of me wouldn't be so bad. No one would know after all.

Oh. His hand was on my forehead again, it was cool this time. Yeah, maybe it wouldn't be so bad.

"Finally coming to your senses. I don't know what's going on in that head of yours but you need to calm down sometimes," he said.

"Just…"

"Oh, Are those meds kicking in?" he smiled and I looked away. "sweet dreams, boss man."

Boss man? I didn't have time to call him ridiculous before my mind went blank and i fell asleep.

I woke several hours later to the sound of rustling. I sat up and looked around for the mutt but he was no where to be seen. Then I noticed a note on the table. "Went out for ice, borrowed your shirt." I read out loud and found myself smiling. Ugh must be the medication.

"Hey, I'm back." Came a voice from the entrance. "good you are awake. I got us some food too." He placed a back down on the table and touched my forehead again. "Your fever broke. Good." He said.

"What's that?" I asked, pointing to a newspaper sticking out of his bag.

"Oh, right. I thought you might be bored so I got you a paper. You like to read boring crap, right?"

"its not boring. You need to know whats going on in the world… why am I trying to explain this to a simpleton."

"Jerk." He said and handed me the paper.

"Where are you getting all of these things? Don't you think someone will notice things flying off the shelves? And how are you able to carry things without being seen."

"Duh, I go to this shop that is closed on Monday's and in this part of town, no one is around. I wont let anyone see me. We don't need that."

"True." I said and opened the paper to give it a read. Shit. The cover was not something I wanted to see.

CORPORATE TAKE OVER

"What's wrong?"

"We have to get back to my company. I don't know what those american's were thinking!" I stood up

"Be careful." Jounouchi said.

"I'm fine."

"What's going on?"

"The american's are feeding the media some bull about how I signed a contract with them to sell my company to them. They are saying that they bought me out."

"What? Like you would ever do that."

"That's not the point. The point is that they are starting with publicity, I guess they assumed that I had died."

"They can't just do that."

"They must have some sort of connection." I said. Damn, I knew I shouldn't have let myself take this little holiday.

"I can see the wheels turning in your head; If you think that you can confront them like that then you are crazy." The mutt glanced up at me with those honey eyes again. No, this look was different… "I wont let you hurt yourself." He said.

"Right, because without me you have no way to move on."

"What? Shut up." Uh-oh, he was angry. Good. This was normal. I smirked.

"I don't give a shit about me. I'm gone so there's no point in worrying. But you… you are still flesh and have people who depend on you and you have a heart… you don't always show it but I know its there."

"Look…" I didn't want to hear any more of this.

"Let me finish. Its obvious that you never take care of yourself and now that you have no choice… I will take on that job." I was taken aback at his words…how did he… I was about to shoot a glare at him when suddenly his body began to fade.

"What's going on?" he asked and before either of us could comprehend it he was gone.


	14. Jounouchi

I opened my eyes and found myself back at my memorial bench. It was strange because normally when I was with Seto I wouldn't get tired unless I got too angry. I wasn't angry… was I? He was going to do something dumb. I sighed in frustration and glanced up at the sky. "Would you explain the rules to me because this is getting old?" I yelled at the gods.

"Are you sure about this?" I sat up, that was Honda's Voice, "I mean Kaiba doesn't really like us. It doesn't matter how much we try." He said as he came around the corner with the others. Seeing them like this made me feel like I could go up to them but I knew it was impossible.

"That's true but he's really beating himself up about Jounouchi." Anzu said, but it seemed like my name was hard for her to say. I'm sorry, Anzu.

"Besides that, Jou would want us to at least try to stay the people we are and we should try and help Kaiba." Yugi said.

"Well it doesn't help that Mokuba is missing." Honda added. True, Mokuba was under the protection of Kaiba's body guards.

"It can't be helped, he's studying abroad." Yugi said, "I think Mokuba would be okay with us trying to help his brother."

"But we need him to help us get Kaiba to come to the party." Anzu said, "He'd never show if one of us invited him."

That's for sure, I agreed.

"True." Yugi said. "I bet if Jou were here he'd come up with a great plan." He smiled warmly.

"Yeah, and it would land us in a heap of trouble." Honda smiled too

"But it would make a memory that would last forever." Anzu added.

"Aw, guys." I could feel tears forming in the corners of my eyes.

"We can still show him we care by inviting him and hope he shows up." Yugi said, bringing them back to the mission at hand.

Okay, that was it. I was going to get Kaiba to show up at their little party.

"Let's do something really fun like Karaoke." Anzu said, "We haven't done that in a long time."

"Ha, Kaiba wouldn't do that." Honda said, but knowing him, he was picturing it. I wonder what kind of singing voice he has. "Since he's so perfect at everything, I bet he can't sing. Wouldn't that be funny?" Honda added.

No, I bet it's smooth and even. Ugh, I know he'd never go to Karaoke but maybe if I trick him…still, how could I get him to sing?

"Well I think we should give it a shot because I think it would be really fun." Yugi said, "We need this. And besides it would make Kaiba feel less awkward because we'll have a private room so we can all just be us."

"Alright." Honda and Anzu said at the same time.

I left the gang with a spring in my step. I had to get back to Kaiba as soon as possible, he might try to go back to Kaiba Corp. and end up doing something dumb.

It only took me an hour to get to the warehouse but I was feeling really weak and I knew that if I didn't find Kaiba soon I would have to start over again. "Kaiba," I called to him; I knew it would be okay since only he could hear me.

"Fuck." My ears perked up and I stepped around a corner only to find Kaiba leaning up against a wall, his face showing pain.

"There you are. What are you doing?" I asked as a quickly made it to his side.

"I need to get back to work… I have to stop them…" he groaned. "I felt fine a moment ago. I don't understand what's going on."

"It's obvious that your meds have worn off. You are in no condition to walk around right now." I said and grabbed his arm and slung it over my shoulders. "We're going back."

"No, I…" he let out a small gasp when I yanked him free of the wall. "…fine…" I rolled my eyes and helped him back inside and onto the couch.

"Stay there. I'll get you some more meds."

"I don't need you to baby me." He said,

"It's not babying, you were shot, it's not like you stubbed your toe." I said and gave him a few pills, which he took without water. "Careful."

"What now?"

"You could hurt your throat that way." I said, "Man, you really never have had anyone to take care of you, have you."

"I can take care of myself." He pouted. I never really noticed how cute his pout was and without thinking I poked his cheek.

The death glare that followed was more than I've ever seen before and for once I was glad I was already dead.

"What's with you?" he said.

"What do you mean?"

"Being all nice to me. It's not normal."

"Well, normally you would be annoyed by me."

"Yes, go back to normal. I don't know how to deal with you now."

"I donno I guess I see that we aren't that different. Neither of us has a good relationship with our fathers, we love our siblings, we have things we fight hard to keep. I guess that I kind of like those things about you. It's nice to see the real you and know that you don't always keep it hidden."

"Well that would be impossible. You know that you would never have seen me like that if you weren't with me all the freaking time."

"Point is that I have seen you like that and I like it." I said. Kaiba paused and stared right at me a moment before his lips curled into a smile. Whoa.

"You like it?" he asked, leaning in real close. "What else do you like?" I moved away slightly when Kaiba's fingers stroked my cheek. "I wonder if I can feel more of you than just this."

"K-Kaiba… what…"

"Answer the question. What else do you like about me?"

"You are very strong and when you enter a room everyone respects you. Despite the fact that you say you hate me and my friends you are always there to help us when we really need it. So I think, when you don't help us it's because you think we can deal with it alone, you want us to be stronger because you actually care about us."

"Hmm."

"I am right, right?"

"Perhaps you losers are the only "friends" I've ever had, well the closest things to them."

"What's going on with you, anyway? You are being very open."

"I guess I just wanted to try it." He said, "I want to try something else…" he paused.

"What?" it was a mistake because as soon as I asked his lips were on mine, they were hard and controlling. His mouth shifted slightly and he bit my bottom lip hard. I brought my hands up to push him off but when his tongue swept across my lip by hands wrapped around him instead. I was becoming intoxicated by him. His ocean scent, the feel of his wet lips on mine, the small noises he was making. I dug my nails into his shoulders and the kiss became more aggressive.

When he pulled away I was left breathless and I felt a little cold and just like that, the amazing feeling was gone.

"I can't believe how real you feel and taste." He said, licking his swollen lips.

"T-taste?" I looked away, this was embarrassing. Shit, what did he just do… and did I like it? No I didn't just like it, I wanted more.

"Mm, I figured it was the only way to be one-hundred percent sure I wasn't losing my mind." Kaiba sat back.

"Wait, you only did that to test me? How many times do I have to prove it?"

"I wanted to know for sure and kissing you was as far as I was willing to go, plus it shut you up." He said, "You walk around here thinking you know me. You don't know a damn thing. And don't worry about the fact that I can kiss someone I don't like, it's easy for an elite business man such as myself.

"You bastard." I said. I can't believe he was toying with me that way. I stood up and crossed the room and plopped down into my seat. I was definitely going to find a way to get him to Karaoke now, I hope he sings and he sucks at it. I pouted.

"On the plus side I think I have a plan to save my company and get rid of you." He said harshly. Get rid of me. I see then, this was just a test to be sure I could really help him get his company back. I should have known since all he cares about is that dumb company of his.

"Good, the sooner I'm gone the better." I said.

* * *

A sinister man sat back in his big office chair as he reviewed the footage presented to him. Items were flying off the shelves. But there was no wind and no visible strings. It was happening again just as predicted. Ten years ago his plan failed but now he was ready. With Kaiba out of the way and a new bio-weapon in the works, he was sure to be the most powerful man in the world and the best part would be that he could never die. He laughed. He'd win for sure this time.


	15. Seto

Driving wasn't an easy task with a gunshot wound but I had to ignore it for the time being. The mutt was beside me wearing a mask that was a mixture of disapproval and betrayal. He was making me regret my decision to use a kiss as a test of my own sanity. He hadn't spoken much after and normally I would relish the silence but instead I felt guilty.

"So you are just going to pout this whole time and not say a word to me, is that it?" He uncrossed his arms and glanced over at me. "Well, this is a real treat." I said, how could admit that I missed his dumb ramblings? I couldn't. "I suppose, while you aren't speaking to me, I could give you a complement without you getting too excited."

Jou shook his head and looked out the window; we were driving out of the warehouse district toward one of my hidden bases just outside the city. It would take a few hours as it was on the other end of the city and we had to drive around rather than through because I couldn't risk anyone spotting me.

"You did a great job getting us this car, full tank of gas, we'll need it. I suppose your skills as a former gang member has paid off for you." I said and held back my smile when his eyes widened a fraction. I had won, I was an expert on micro expressions and I could tell that he was warming up again. I guess all dogs need a treat once in a while.

"Hot wiring a car is hardly a skill I should be proud of." Jou said. "My gang affiliations are what got us into this mess in the first place. Now, leave me alone and drive." He spat.

"You aren't going to stop this behavior unless I apologize, are you?"

"Pft. Like you would ever do that." Jou said.

"I am sorry, Jounouchi." I said, adding his name just to ruffle his feathers. "I really couldn't go around believing in the supernatural without some sort of test and it was the only way I could truly be sure. I should have taken your feelings into account but…"

"Okay, god, please stop." He said. "You are freaking me out. I forgive you for the kiss." He said. "But I am still mad at you for leaving the warehouse before healing a bit more."

"I don't have the luxury of resting; every moment we waste is giving them more time to gain more control of my company."

"All you care about is Kaiba corps." he said the name as if he were saying the name of an infectious disease.

"Without Kaiba corps I don't have the resources to fix any of this." The blow to my company was something I couldn't live with. I'd worked too hard and lost so much for the place to let that happen.

"Whatever." Jou said, "It isn't like I can stop you anyway." And just like that he went back to pouting. I had to admit that the way his lip poked out was slightly adorable. The feel of that lip against mine was flooding back to me and the car started shaking.

"Hey! You are drifting into the other lane!" I jerked the car back into my lane just as a truck flew past us. "What the hell?"

"It's this damn gunshot wound." I lied, taking the lesser of two embarrassing options by admitting to my pain.

"Let me drive." He offered.

"Oh, that will go over well, a car that drives itself across town, no one will notice that at all." I said sarcastically.

"Well then we need to pull over and rest. There's a motel over there."

"Excuse me? You expect me to sleep in a bug infested hole in the wall?" I hadn't ever set foot in a hotel that didn't have five stars let alone a hotel that started with an m.

"You spent the night in a condemned gang warehouse." He said. "This is a step up."

"Not much of a step." I said, but I decided it would be better to get a little rest before arriving at our destination because once I got there it would be nonstop work. I pulled off the road and parked in front of a blue door and got out to head to the front office.

When I pulled open the door I was greeted by a cloud of smoke and the stench of stale cigarettes. My nose crinkled against the smell but I pressed forward. "I need a room for the night." I said to the pudgy man behind the counter. He glanced up at me and the cigarette nearly fell out of his mouth, it stuck to his bottom lip.

"are you…"

"I get that a lot." I said simply and his face dropped while he reached behind the counter to grab an old book. He slammed it down on the counter and flipped to a half filled page and started writing.

"Room 34." He said and handed me a key.

"Thank you." I said and calmly walked back out and was glad for the limited technology of the motel because if the Americans were smart they would be looking for me just in case.

"I can't believe you just walked right in there without a disguise." Jou said as soon as I was close enough for him to become tangible again.

"He wondered for a brief moment but he believed me when I said I get that I look like Seto Kaiba a lot." I said. "it's all about perception, he'd think that a man like me would never show up at place like this and so he wanted to believe me."

"You dissect everyone, don't you?" Jou asked, I was taken aback by his comment because when I thought about it, it was true. "Don't you ever enjoy someone's company?"

"I enjoy having Mokuba around." I said.

"That doesn't count." Jou said, "Like a true friend, someone you can be quiet with and not have it feel awkward, someone you like to have a round because having them near makes you feel relaxed."

"I can't relax around anyone, letting my guard down would only give them the chance they need to take me down, not that it would be an easy thing to do in the first place." We walked to the end of the motel and I opened the door and entered with Jou. Once the door was closed he plopped on the bed like an adolescent child.

"You let your guard down around me, your greatest rival." He gave me that cheese smile of his.

"You are hardly good enough to even be my rival and you can't really bring me down because you are dead." I said.

"details." Jou waved me off and rolled over to mess with a small box next to the bed. "oh, check this out." He pressed a button on the left and the bed started to shake. "it vibrates!" he said, his voice coming out in waves as the bed shook the breath from him.

"Am I supposed to be impressed? This place just gets worse." I said.

"Hey, at least there aren't any bed bugs."

"Excuse me?" my skin began to tingle and I felt dirty. "We're leaving."

"Hey." Jou said before turning the bed off. "Don't worry, this place is fine. Trust me. Besides where would we go?"

I let out a sigh and cautiously sat on the edge of the bed. "How did we get here?" I asked myself.

"I stole a car and we drove…" he said.

"No," he was so stupid, "I mean, how did we go from being at school to this moment, where I've been shot and I am helping you to vanish from this plane of existence?"

"I have no idea." Jou sighed and the weight of him moving to sit next to me was more proof that he was real. "I guess, and if you tell anyone I told you this I will kill you, as far as partners go I am glad it was you."

"oh?" I was amused, "even over your friend, Yugi?"

"well I know Yugi would be a great help but he would've probably ended up coming to you anyway. Plus, I don't think he'd like it if I left him for the afterlife just like…" he trailed off and I knew what he was about to say. After that day in Egypt, Yugi had never been quite the same.

"I guess you are right. I for one will be glad to be rid of you." I said, but he and I both knew it was a lie. I had grown rather fond of the mutt in this short time. Perhaps it was my guilt over being the reason he was in the hallway with Yoshi or that he was growing on me like a fungus that had no cure, I wasn't sure but I knew deep down that I would miss him once he was inevitably sent beyond.

"Me too, you are such a stick in the mud, I can't wait to get there and see all the celebrities I miss." He looked up at the ceiling and lost himself in fantasy.

"You sure it's not going to be something different, lonely, like floating through space with no one to talk to?"

"See, there you go, making this all depressing and shit. Yugi was right, we have to cheer you up." He said and I gave him a look of anger and surprise.

"What do you mean?"

"Oh… oops."

"What? What are they plotting?"

"Well they may have mentioned that they wanted to go out with you somewhere." I glared. "Karaoke"

"Idiots. As if I would ever waste my time at a Karaoke bar."

"Why not? You not good enough to beat them?" He was trying to get at my competitive side, well it would fail.

"I don't need to go to know that I am the best at Karaoke." I said,

"hmm." He sat back and began to tap his fingers on his chin.

"What?"

"You know, if you go then I can too without losing energy." He said and a I paused.

"So you are using your situation to get me to do what you want?" I was irritated now but it was kept at bay by the fact that Jou wanted to spend some time with them before he left for good.

"Maybe. But I do think it would be good for you too. Give them a chance." He said.

I rolled my eyes. "When is it?"

"Well they sort of want to surprise you with it."

"Of course they do." I let out a sigh and fell back against the mattress. Suddenly I was very aware of how heavy my body was. "I'll think about it." I said before drifting off to sleep.


	16. Jounouchi

As I watched Kaiba fall asleep I begin to wonder when he became comfortable enough to fall asleep in front of me. It had been by experience that he never showed any weakness around those he considered to be enemies. Okay, I knew I wasn’t an enemy but I was someone he never really enjoyed being around.

  
  
If I had stayed alive would we have ended up trusting each other this way? No. of course not. Things would have gone on as they always had. It made me sad to think that though.  
  
I don’t have the luxury of feeling this way, I told myself. I had to find a way to help Kaiba get his company back first. This war, if it was allowed to happen, would endanger everything my friends and I had fought for in the past. This time we couldn’t call on an ancient power to save us. This time we were alone.  
  
I looked over at Kaiba and sighed, it was just the two of us. The others couldn’t know what was going on, it would only hurt them. I had to succeed with Kaiba for the sake of everyone I cared about. For the sake of my friends, for the new family I would never know, for myself. It was my turn to show everyone what I could do even if they could never really know it was me.  
  
I hovered over Kaiba’s sleeping form and studied his face for a moment, it was as peaceful as the first time I looked at it. I stuffed the urge to touch him down and took to studying the rest of him. He really was perfect. Then his eyes opened and he backed away as far as he could.  
  
“Whoa, I’m sorry.” I said, Kaiba took a breath and ran a hand back through his hair.  
  
“What are you doing?” his startled breath coming out in short bursts.  
  
“I was just checking on you. I didn’t want your fever to come back.” I said, hoping he’d believe me. He nodded.  
  
“I’m fine.” He said for what had to be the billionth time that week.  
  
“You might be fine now but you did push yourself a lot, making yourself drive all the way out here.”  
  
“Speaking of which, we should get going now.”  
  
“Are you crazy?” I asked. “You were only out for about an hour. You need more rest than that.”  
  
“We can’t waste time here.” Kaiba said.  
  
The Young CEO swung his legs over the edge of the bed and went to stand only to see that his right leg was twice the size it should be. “Shit.”  
  
“See, it’s swollen. If you don’t heal enough then the only thing you’ll be able to do is watch while they take over your company and start a war in your name.” I said.  
  
Kaiba sat back down on the bed and let out a frustrated growl. “This is absolutely the worst.”  
  
“I understand how you feel.”  
  
“How?”  
  
“Seriously?” I was getting real fed up with his attitude. “You aren’t the only one who has lost here.”  
  
“How hard was your life, really?” he said. “All you’ve ever had to do is live a normal life.”  
  
“Normal life?” What was he talking about? “My life was anything but normal.”  
  
“True, you were in a gang after all.”  
  
“You want to know why I was in that gang.” I was pissed now. “My father spent all his extra money on booze, sometimes I went without food for days, I joined the gang because they gave me extra spending money. They gave me a place where I could have control over my life… that is until I found out that I had given most of the control to the gang.”  
  
“You think that’s easy? Well, getting in is easy. Getting out of a gang is near impossible.” I continued. “I won’t go into details but while you were being fed stuck-up French food from a silver plate I was trying to escape the hell that I trapped myself in. Yugi helped me through it. The only thing that makes life easier is friendships to help carry the load.”  
  
“My life wasn’t all French food and silver plates, as you say.” Kaiba said. “I had to raise my brother after my parents died. I got us out of that hell hole of an orphanage and into the biggest building in the city. It came with a price though, thankfully I was the one who got the brunt of it. If it weren’t for my brother I would be…god knows where.”  
  
“Look, I don’t want to fight.” I said finally. I was right, Kaiba and I weren’t that different after all. “I want us to solve this so we can save all the people who saved us.”  
  
“I want that too.” He said.  
  
“So stop fighting me at every turn and rest up so we can be at our best when we take on those Americans.”  


* * *

  
  
After a few hours of resting on the bed, with the T.V. on some foreign channel, Kaiba finally decided to ask me something I wasn’t prepared to answer.  
  
“Is everything okay with your family?”  
  
“What? Of course, why are you asking that?” I was flustered, what was he getting at?  
  
“A few days ago, your father came to one of my finance offices for a home loan.” He said.  
  
“Well he doesn’t want to live in a place that reminds him of his dead son.” I said.  
  
“No, there’s more to it than that.” He said, “Your mother and sister were there.”  
  
“So what?”  
  
“Well, the story you told me earlier is really gnawing at me.”  
  
“Apparently he’s a changed man. They are all going to be a big happy family.” I cringed, I was angry and raw. “I don’t want to talk about this. It’s pointless and doesn’t matter, I’m dead. They can move on a start a family. A new family, with a new son, who isn’t going to be a screw up. A son who will live to see thirty. A shiny new replacement.”  
  
“…you aren’t going to be replaced. No one could replace you.” Kaiba said softly, carefully, I had only heard him talk this way to Mokuba.  
  
“Shut up.” I said. I was feeling very exposed and I could feel myself fading.  
  
“Hey, don’t fade away. I can’t go back to Domino and get you.” He said and suddenly I was in his arms. “I’m holding you. You won’t fade. You are real and are not going anywhere.” He said but I got the feeling he was saying it to reassure himself more so than me.  
  
“You are holding on too tight.” I said. I could feel his touch giving me my strength back and I shoved him away as hard as I could. “Don’t be crazy, I’m not going anywhere. I told you that. I am serious about stopping this threat.”  
  
“As am I.” Kaiba said. “They can’t get into the weapon’s room without my handprint. We have a little time.”  
  
“Speaking of that, how do they know about the old weapons and why do you still have them?” I asked.  
  
“They might be old partners of Gozaboro, he may have told them about the weapons, as for the second question, the materials used to make the weapons are extremely dangerous and there is no way to destroy them safely. I have to keep them guarded and locked away so they don’t fall into the wrong hands.”  
  
“Your stepfather was really something…” I said as I imagined a world where Kaiba Corps was a place of pain rather than enjoyment.  
  
“I will give my life to prevent this war from taking place.” He said. “We have to get to that bunker.”  
  
“Bunker?” I asked.  
  
“Yes, one of my secret bases. Where did you think we were heading? Back to my company? No, it isn’t safe there. I can take care of what I need to at my base.”  
  
“So you haven’t lost your ability to think things through.” I teased. I was so relieved that we weren’t going straight for the company out of some blind revenge.  
  
“I’ll pretend I didn’t hear you say that.” He said. “The swelling has gone down significantly.” He added. “I think it’s time we get this party started.”  
  
“I really think we need at least one more day.” I said but that plan was soon cut short by the banging that sounded from the front door.  
  
“We know you’re in there. The door man, rest his soul, told us there was a Seto Kaiba look-a-like in this room.” The voice from the other end of the door was slimy and dark.  
  
“Shit. How the hell did they find us?” Kaiba asked.  
  
“I have no idea.” I answered, “Maybe they put out a hit on you from the underground.”  
  
“I guess they know more of my stepfather’s friends than I figured.” Kaiba got up and started searching the room.  
  
“What are you doing?” I asked.  
  
“I need a weapon.” He said.  
  
“Try the fridge.” Jou said  
  
“The fridge?” I popped open the mini fridge but all I found were bottles of beer. “I don’t know what else I expected to find in there.”  
“No, those are the perfect weapons.” He said. “You never play video games do you? What am I asking, of course you don’t?”  
  
“I grabbed the pocket square from Kaiba’s suite pocket and popped open the beer bottle and dumped the contents onto the silk fabric.”  
  
“Hey, do you have any idea how much those cost?” he glared.  
  
“Your life if we don’t use it.” I said and noticed a box of matches on the counter. “Hand me those matches.” The banging on the door was getting louder and more frequent. I shoved the fabric into the bottle and used it as a fuse, I lit the fabric. “Open the door.” I said to Kaiba  
  
“This is nuts.” He said but pulled open the door anyway. “Two men in black outfits came tumbling in, they were not ready for the door to be toss open so violently. I took the opening and tossed the Molotov cocktail toward them.  
  
The bottle landed between them and crash into tiny glowing shards of fire and glass. While the men were distracted by the fire Kaiba slipped out the door and hopped into the car. I floated after him and just like that we left the motel behind.


	17. Seto

I sped down the highway, it was so dark out that I couldn't make out the road three feet in front of me. The outskirts of Domino were strangely uninhabited, I used to come out this far if I needed time to clear my head. This distance and darkness used to give me a sense of freedom, now it only gave me a feeling of loneliness and dare I admit, fear.

I looked over at Jounouchi's sleeping face, beams of moonlight that were allowed through the cloud cover illuminated his features. His eyelashes lightly rested upon his soft cheeks. He was breathing in and out slightly, completely comfortable sleeping even after our run-in with those thugs.

I suggest that he sleep to regain some strength since he had begun to fade out during the commotion. Hopefully that logic would hold. Hopefully? Damn. He was growing on me for sure. I had to think of a way to stop this attachment, his existence was finite.

In an attempt to take my mind off of thinking of Jounouchi, I turned on the radio, luckily it worked. Unfortunately, what was airing was the hostile takeover of my company. I gripped the steering wheel tighter and accelerated.

It was dawn when we had reached our destination, I was lucky I wasn't pulled over. Lucky? There it was again. Perhaps the Mutt's luck was rubbing off on me. I smiled at that and snuck a glance at him as I pulled into a parking space at the long-term parking at Domino Airport.

I reached over and stroked his cheek with the back of my hand, he opened his eyes but I didn't pull away. His honey colored eyes bore into mine and I felt warm. He smiled slightly, it was a micro expression but I was able to pick up on it due to years of practice reading people. I pulled away before he was fully aware of what I was doing.

"Well," I cleared my throat. "We're here." I said.

Jounouchi was wearing a blush but he was trying his best to hide it, I gave him the benefit of the doubt. "Yeah, where is here?" he asked.

"Domino Airport." I said simply before getting out of the car. He followed suit and we made our way to another row of cars.

"Are we leaving the country? I don't think I'll be able to do that." He said, I detected a hint of worry. He really was like a dog with separation anxiety.

"No, I have a secret base here." I said. "Just follow me like a good boy." I laughed when he bristled at the comment.

We made our way to the back of the lot, to a simple RV with a retina scanner in the door. I leaned in and allowed the machine to identify me.

"Okay, so I have to ask…" Jounouchi started, "this run down piece of junk or that motel?" he held up both his hands while doing a scale maneuver.

"It's not what's on the outside that counts." I said and pulled the door open and led him in. The RV was filled with the latest computer technology and completely suited to my needs in case of any emergency. I had recently updated it, not knowing that I would need it. That proves the importance of routine check-ups.

"It's very Seto Kaiba-like." Jounouchi said. It felt like an insult so I looked at him.

"Just what does that mean? It's hard, cold and unyielding?"

"It feels safe." Jounouchi said, and from the look on his face I could tell he was just as surprised as I was at the comment.

"Just close the door." I said. He did and took the seat next to mine in front of three huge computer screens. I booted them up and waited for that familiar "Seto Kaiba" welcome scream.

"Welcome, Master Kaiba." The computer's voice said.

"Contact Mokuba." I ordered.

"Mokuba Kaiba is no longer at Kaiba Corp."

"Yes I know. Contact Mokuba location Romeo, Alfa, Omega, five, six." I said.

"Searching." The computer said and after a moment it began to ring, "attempting to make contact."

"Big Brother?!" Mokuba's voice was like a fountain in the middle of a desert. "Thank god, everyone thinks you're dead."

"I am alright, Mokuba."

"Ha! Apart from seeing ghosts and, oh yeah, being shot, alright." Jounouchi said but I resisted the urge to give him a warning look.

"Roland hasn't told me much about what's happening. I'm scared."

"You have to hold it together. I need you to come back home and run Kaiba Corp for me. I need you to confirm for the media that I am dead." I said. "You have to do your best to keep your hold of the company no matter what."

"I will but I don't understand."

"I can't explain it now, there isn't time. Just know that I am alive and I am working on a way to make everything right."

"Alright, Big Brother. I trust you, of course." Mokuba sat up straighter and looked right at me when he said the following, "I won't let them take Kaiba Corp from us."

"Good."

"I love you, Ni-sama." Mokuba said.

"I love you, too." I answered, "Stay strong."

"Stay strong." He repeated. It was something our dear mother would say to us, it was the only thing Mokuba remembered about her. I spared him one last glance and ended the call.

"You guys have a great relationship." Jounouchi said.

"You have a good one with your sister."

"It's not as strong, we didn't grow up together."

"I am aware that your parents separated you but your bond is still a strong one." I said.

"Okay," his tone said that he wanted to change the subject. "So Mokuba is going to run the company. Will he be safe? I mean those guys tried to murder you."

"He'll be fine. When he comes out with word of my death and that he will be taking over the company the media will cover him for a while. Those bastards won't try anything risky while the media is on the company."

"I guess you know what you're doing." Jounouchi said

"I do. I've had a lot of practice with this sort of thing."

"Really? I never noticed."

"Of course not, I didn't let it show."

"You do have a habit of hiding your emotions, well you did, I should say."

"What does that mean?"

"I can read you too." Jounouchi clarified. "I know you've been analyzing me since we started this partnership."

"You don't know anything." I turned away from him.

"Ha, see, you do that when someone is close to finding out the truth about you. You dismiss people." Jounouchi made his way around me so that I would face him. "My favorite tell is the scary vein that shows up on your forehead when you are really upset. That's an easy one, I think we all knew about it, that's how we knew that there was a potential for friendship there, since the vein never showed up even when you were putting us down."

"Just stop it now."

"No. Now, back to you analyzing me, I can tell because you don't understand that everything I am is right out here in the open. I have nothing to hide."

"Oh?"

"Yes."

"You sure you don't want to take that back? There is one thing that I have seen in you that I you would never admit in a million years."

"What's that?"

"Take it back first."

"No."

"Then I'm not telling you." I smiled and so did he. I have never playfully bantered with anyone before, it was fun and refreshing.

"You can be really stubborn." He said, that was the pot calling the kettle black. "Fine, I take it back." He finally said.

"You are glad I am helping you and you want to be my friend more than anything in the whole world." I said.

"Yeah, well same goes for you." He snapped.

"I am not." I said. I wasn't expecting this conversation to backfire on me, that's for sure. What would be the harm in admitting it? It wasn't as if he could tell anyone, not that they'd believe him anyway. "You know what, fine, I am glad that you are here."

"Ha, I knew it! Wait, what?"

Oh? I smirked, perhaps this would be more fun than keeping it from him. "I'll admit that you aren't that bad and are useful in many situations."

"Uh... you know what, I need some air, it's really hot in here." He said as he stood from his seat and headed for the door. "I won't get locked out, will I?"

"No." I said and laughed when I was sure he was completely out of my presence.

The whole thing was completely new to me and I felt out of character but it was making my heart race. It felt as exciting as facing Yugi in the dueling arena and I hadn't felt that alive in years.


	18. Jounouchi

Where did Rich Boy come off, teasing me like that? My heart was beating like crazy. I can't believe he actually said that. To be honest I wanted to hear it…but it was just so unexpected. I let myself fall back against a pillar and slide to the ground. I was generally happy about his words and I let myself smile.

The smile faded though, being around him made me forget the situation I was in, his admission didn't change a thing. I was still dead and as soon as all of this was over I would be gone. I'd never get to admit… I paused… admit what?

"No fucking way…" I murmured. A laugh escaped my lips but it was far from funny, I was falling in love with Kaiba. Deep down I knew this and it hurt even more knowing that nothing could ever be done about it. "Shit." I guess this is what I deserve for all that I put everyone through.

"There he is!" I jumped to my feet when I heard the loud exclamation and the shuffling of feet.

"I don't see anything?" said the other man, "I'm not picking up any EVP's." he said.

"I can sense him. He is very strong." The man emphasized the word "is" and made his way around the corner, he was right in front of me but I knew he couldn't see me so I wasn't worried. Plus. I looked back at the "secret base" and noticed that I was far enough away from it that they wouldn't be able to find Kaiba. Still, I had to do something before the stumbled upon it.

I weaved myself between cars and approached a very expensive car, I knew it would have an alarm I just had to hope that this wouldn't suck up too much of my energy. I floated into the driver's side and began to yank at the wires beneath the steering wheel.

The car blared to life, causing a chain reaction that set off other cars near it. I smiled when the men changed direction. My relief didn't last because I noticed something very odd about them, something I had seen when Tristan and I would watch TV. Ghost hunting equipment.

"He's toying with us." Said the first man. "If we don't catch him here then we'll have to explain to the boss why we failed and I'm not doing that."

"Man, our first real one and we have to hand him over to a psychopath." Said the second.

It was then that I knew they were after me. "Shit." How the hell did they know about me?

"Set the trap, he's still near the cars." The first man said. The second man nodded and reached into his bag and pulled out a small dome-shaped devise.

I had to get out. I fazed through the car and fell to my knees. I loud screeching sound filled my ears and I couldn't move.

"The trap is set. It's emitting the sound." I could barely hear what the second man was saying over the earsplitting noise. I felt like my head was on fire, the pressure was too much, I could feel myself fading but it was okay because I wanted nothing more than for the sound to stop.

"Ah, a spike."

"Wow, this power is amazing."

Finally, the sound began to fade, I felt something cold against my cheek, hmm. Was it Kaiba? I knew he would come save me… I closed my eyes at the feel of his cool hand against my hot cheek. "I have something to tell you…" I said but it was all I could manage before I felt my bodying being pulled toward something.

I snapped back to reality, the noise was still blaring and it all came back to me, I was lying on the hard concrete floor and being dragged, toward the dome-shaped trap. I tried to struggle but I couldn't move, my body was heavy.

"We got him." Said one of the men.

"Like hell." I said and I began to struggle more but nothing happened. Why couldn't I move?

"It's taking a long time to catch him. His will is strong."

"But not strong enough, he won't get out of this one."

The men begin laughing as I struggled to remain conscious and after a few moments everything was dark.

* * *

When I woke up I felt weak, it was the same feeling I had before I would fade and return to my bench only this time I felt as if I was caught between fading and reappearing. I looked around as best I could but I couldn't make out much. The room was dark except for a few blinking lights and the hum of electricity.

I tried to take a step forward but I was blocked by something, I felt around and I could tell it was some sort of tube about the size of my body.

I had no idea what was going on but I had to hope that Seto was alright. They were after me not him but they were close to finding him too. We didn't know who we could trust after all.

"Hey! Let me out!" I tried and I banged on the glass with all my might, which wasn't much considering I was weak as hell. I let out a growl of frustration and gave up. Once my strength returned I could just faze through the tube and escape.

Then again, ghost hunters had captured me, I didn't know if that was possible but I had to get out and help Seto, I had to be there for him… Man, I had it bad, I went and used his first name again and I'm in this tube and all I can do is think about him. I am such a mess. I thought.

The light came on and I had to blink so that my eyes could adjust, the room was like you would see in a movie about doctors doing experiments on people. White walls and equipment everywhere.

"Is it really in there?" some guy asked, he was different from the men who had captured me.

"Yes, a fine specimen, it's a shame we have to hand him over to the boss." Said a second man, this one was the guy who set the trap.

"Can I see it?" asked the first man.

"He's a bit weak from the capture but I think I can motivate him to show himself." Trap man said and made his way over my tube, he flipped a few switches on his computer thing and I felt a zap of energy flow through me. I let out a scream as the energy grew stronger, it was too much, too fast.

"I see it" said the first man, "that's the biggest orb I have ever seen. I knew we weren't crazy, I knew they were real."

I fell to my knees as the power grew to be too much, this pain was worse than anything I had felt in my entire life. "Kaiba!" before I could stop myself his name escaped my lips. I tried to focus on his face and ignore the pain.

"We should let him rest." Said trap man, "We don't want to tear the soul apart." He flipped the switches to the off position and the pain stopped.

"When I get out of here you guys are gonna pay!" I vowed. "As soon as I wake from my nap… yeah…" I added as I lost consciousness again.

* * *

" _Jounouchi, come play with us." Anzu waved in the distance, we had finally had time to meet at the waterpark on a Sunday. I smiled and ran toward them._

" _It's been so long since we all hung out like this. Yugi is busy with the shop and you and Honda are so busy with school." I said._

" _I know, I noticed that too so I wanted to cheer you up by getting all of us together." She said._

" _Well if anyone could manage that it would be you, as the queen of friendship" I teased._

" _You were the one who started that, weren't you?" she held up a fist and glared at me. I laughed, it might have been my fault that the whole school was making fun of her and her friendship speeches. She didn't know that I really appreciated them, deep down._

" _Ha-ha, maybe." I said, then I took her towel and started running toward the other guys._

" _Hey!" she ran after me, Honda and I played keep away with her._

" _You guys will never grow up will you?" the snooty comment belonged to Kaiba. He always managed to ruin the fun._

" _What are you doing here, rich boy? Thought you had the stick so far up your ass that you couldn't swim." Ha, that was a good one._

" _I see, you are all here to teach the mutt here how to swim rather than doggy paddle. Wouldn't want him to drown, forgetting how to float." He stocked off, laughing at his own stupid joke_

_I ran after him ready for a fight but as I did the ground stretched on to infinity, I couldn't catch him no matter how fast I ran. I decided to look back but the road was equally long in the other direction as well._

" _Anzu! Honda! Yugi! Where are you!" my voice echoed but on answer came. Suddenly the sky broke apart and I was standing in the middle of a graveyard. The loneliness I felt was palpable and I wanted to crumble to my knees but I resisted._

" _Hi, big brother." I turned around to see Shizuka standing in front of a grave, "this will be the last time I come and see you. Our new little brother is going to need some taking care of."_

" _Wait!" I said, "You can't just replace me."_

" _I will always love you big brother." She said, turned on her heals, stared right at me and gasped_

" _Yes, I'm here." I said and held out my arms, she came running toward me and I couldn't wait to feel her warm body against mine and smell the familiar scent of her hair. As she got close enough to hug she passed through me and ran into the arms of my father._

" _Shizuka!" I called but they just walked away. "Please, don't leave me." I fell to my knees and held my head in my hands._

" _Get up, Jounouchi." I looked up to see Seto standing in front of me._

" _What are you doing here, Kaiba?"_

" _Oh, it's Kaiba now? What happened to Seto? What happened to friendship?"_

" _You mean…"_

" _I meant what I said. You have proven yourself…no, that's not right, you have shown me that there are some people I can rely on. I won't have you ruin that by giving up now." He said, "Prove to me that you are stronger than death. Wake up."_

" _Wake up?" I repeated_

My eyes opened and I was still in the tube, my dreams always had a way of reminding me what was important. I felt rejuvenated. Yes, I was gaining strength, I would find a way out. I would prove to Seto that I was strong enough to be worthy of him.


	19. Seto

The car alarm was my first hint that something had gone wrong, my second was that Jounouchi was taking too long to return. My senses were heightened, it was too much of a coincidence that a car would go off in the long-term parking lot at the same time I was being pursued by a couple of idiots.

Given my current situation it would be unwise for me to just open the door and reveal myself so I switch my computer screens to display the surrounding area. The car was still singing its song of annoyance but there was no sign of anyone, not even Jounouchi. There was, however, the possibility that cameras weren’t able to pick him up so I had to take a chance and go looking for him.

I made my way out of the trailer and pinched the bridge of my nose, I could feel an immense headache coming on. The car was never going to stop sounding the alarm because there was no one here to turn the damned thing off. I made my way over to the car, reached underneath and yanked out at a small wire and the alarm stopped.

I let out a breath but I was far from relieved, the silence only made me more uneasy. Where could Jounouchi be? I thought as I stood up from my kneeling position beside the car. “Jounouchi.” I called but was only greeted by the sound of my own voice echoing back at me.

I stopped to think and noticed something strange on the ground. I knelt down again and rubbed my fingers over it, they came away with dark black smudges on them. Something there was recently burned. I looked around a bit more and noticed scratch marks on the ground before the burn. Without hesitation I pulled up my smart phone and took a picture, of both the burn mark and the scratches.

“Computer,” I said. “I am sending you two photos, analyze their contents.”

“Yes, Master Kaiba.” The computer said. While that was working I headed back for the trailer. I had a feeling that Jounouchi wasn’t with me anymore. He could have gone too far and faded away in which case I was screwed because there was no way I could get in and out of Domino without being seen.

“Results of the analysis are ready.” Came the computer’s sharp tone. I sat down in my chair and faced the screens before me.

“On screen two.” I ordered.

“There appears to be evidence of a magnetic force along with a strong electronic surge in the debris of the burn.” The computer continued, “The scratches appear to be from a heavy device, device is unknown.” The computer stopped.

“Unknown?” I was puzzled now, there shouldn’t have been anything my computer couldn’t identify. There wasn’t anything I could do about that, however, so I proceeded to look at the picture of the burn mark. I zoomed in and searched every pixel for a clue.

I was taken away from my task as the phone rang and I knew it was Mokuba so I answered, “hey.”

“The preparations have been made.” He said, his tone was sadder than I was expecting. It was rare that I didn’t share with him what was going on. “Are you sure about this?”

“Yes, it’s the only option I have at this point.” I said, “But everything will be fine, I am alright. I just need you to hold onto Kaiba Corp. with everything you’ve got.”

“There’s no problem there. I won’t let anyone take Kaiba Corp. away from us.” He said and I felt a flash of pride surge through me.

“I wish I could tell you what’s going on but it is safer this way. Also, keep Roland and Isono with you at all times. And remember the press is your friend.”

“Since when?” Mokuba sounded panicked now. It was true that the media had a way of being a pain in the ass but not when you used them to your advantage.

“Since I need you to stay safe. The more people you have around you the better.” I said.

“I don’t like this Seto.” He said, “First you send me into hiding then you tell me to come back home and help fake your death.”

“I know.” I said. “I’m in the middle of something and I’m not quite sure what it is yet. Trust me.”

“You know I do but you have this habit of not taking care of yourself.” I paused, Jounouchi had mentioned the same thing. I let that thought go as another popped into my head. “Mokuba, can you tell me how the investigation into Yoshi’s death is going? I haven’t been keeping up lately.”

“They are ruling it a suicide and shutting the case. This means they won’t find out that Yoshi was behind the shootings.” In hindsight, I suppose that telling Mokuba about Yoshi being the shooter was a mistake.

“When I went to Yoshi’s place there wasn’t really much there, but to give up so easily? That’s odd.” I said. “Even though they haven’t found clues that the “Suicide” and shooting are connected, are they still investigating shooting?” I asked.

“No. they just want to drop the whole thing. I don’t know why though, I want everyone to know that Jounouchi was are really great person.” Mokuba’s voice started cracking from the need to cry. “I miss him, Seto.”

“I know…” I did, too in a way. “Let’s focus. I will figure out what happened. I’ll find justice for Jounouchi.” I told him. There was silence on the other end, “Mokuba?”

“I’m here.” He said after a few moments, “Thanks.”

“Now, I want you to be strong, okay?”

“I got this, big bro.” he said and I could tell he was flashing his evil grin.

“I’m going to get started here then. You know what do to.”

“Sure do. Stay safe.” He said

“Stay safe.” I repeated and hung up.

I turned back to the picture I was studying and decided it was a waste of time, I minimized the picture and turned my attention to getting into the Domino Police Department’s website. It had been a long time since I hacked into anything but I wanted to know what would cause the police to stop investigating.

As a searched through the files that were buried in the police system I discovered that the person who had ordered the closure of both cases was the same person. This meant that someone had discovered that the cases could be linked somehow.

“What the hell?” I asked, there was definitely something more to Jounouchi’s case than I had previously thought.

I kept digging and pulled up the original article about the shooting and I was reminded that two other boys were involved. These two were victims of the shooting but both had survived the initial trauma.

I searched the hospital’s records and discovered that one had passed away because of his injuries but the other was in recovery. I needed to ask him a few questions but to do that it would mean going into the city.

I sat back in my chair, was I prepared to risk everything in order to find justice for Jounouchi? I didn’t even hesitate because I knew the answer was yes.

 

 

 


	20. Jounouchi

I was busy trying to figure out a way to get out of this mess when the door opened and the lights flickered to life. Two men were approaching, the one who had captured me and someone I didn't know. He was wearing a black suit and he held himself up high, I could tell that he was probably the boss of this operation. Neither of them said a word until they were right in front of me.

"And you're sure this soul is strong enough? I am tired of them breaking apart during assimilation." Suit said.

"Yes, he's the one we found." The other said causing Suit to look at me.

"Ah, I am sorry we had to cut your life short but I couldn't wait for you to die to take your soul." He smiled, "Once you are assimilated, you will live forever." He said. I had no idea what he was talking about but he was nuts. "Speaking of cutting his life short, have you dealt with the others? I don't want to leave any loose ends." Suit said, turning to his lackey.

"Of course, the Domino Police Department has dropped both cases thanks to my buddy. There is one more survivor but we are taking care of him now." He said.

"Good." Suit said. "I don't need an investigation messing up all I've done."

Wait? Did he mean the investigation into my death and Yoshi's suicide? If that's true then what he said about ending my life early… "You did this to me!?" I screamed, I knew he couldn't hear me, at least I thought I did because he looked at me again and said.

"It was for a noble cause."

"Bastard."

"I've been called worse." He said "Don't cause any trouble and this won't be painful for you."

"When should we being the process?" the other man said, ignoring the fact that his crazy boss was talking to a ghost.

"As soon as I have the access codes to Kaiba Corp's secret facility. Now that Gozaburo's step son is dead we have the matter of dealing with the younger step son, but that shouldn't be too hard." He said.

As if, Mokuba was a strong kid. I thought.

"Seto Kaiba is dead?" the other man asked. "But we never found his body."

"Yes, that had me worried as well but it was confirmed this morning." The boss said, "The younger Kaiba was too distraught to deliver the news but it's in all of the papers."

"Why don't we just assimilate him now and take down the younger Kaiba?" the man asked.

"Because, I want to use the machine Gozaburo designed after stealing my plans. I want to use his designs to take down Kaiba Corp. Once those stupid Americans put an end to the little Kaiba no one will stop me. I will make Japan one of the world's strongest superpowers."

This man was nuts. I had to stop him somehow but I wasn't sure how. I wish I could get in touch with Kaiba somehow. I had to settle for getting all the information I could out of these fools. I wasn't going down without a fight. I clenched my fists at my sides and felt a surge of energy, one I had never felt before, and suddenly the light above my tube popped.

Suit looked at the damage and then at me. "I told you not to cause trouble." He said and then turned to his lackey, "You sure this can contain his energy?"

"I'm sure, he can break as many lightbulbs as he wants, he's not getting out of there." Said the man.

"Since you've never captured a soul this strong before, let's just be safe." Suit turned to the computer next to the tube and flicked a few switches. Before I knew what was happening a familiar pain ran through me. It was the same sound I heard just before I was caught. I tried covering my ears but it was no use. I felt the energy leave my body in a flash.

"Don't you worry, I'll turn the machine off once I need you again. We'll keep you in a low energy state until then." Suit said. "Sweet dreams."

* * *

_There I was in the middle of the most important duel of my life. I was fighting for my chance to face Kaiba in one final battle, not to prove I was the best but to prove that I was a worthy advisory. I had trained tirelessly with Yugi for months and I knew I was ready. I only had to beat this final opponent._

" _Draw your next card, loser." He called from his dueling platform across the stage. He was trying to bait me with insults. Everyone knew how to get the better of me but I trained more than just my dueling skills. I counted to ten in my head and my anger left me._

" _Go Jounouchi!" I could hear my friends within the sea of voices and I felt energized. I remembered all the things I ever learned from Yugi and… Atem. I was ready. I drew my card and ended the game quickly._

_The crowd went wild as I stared down at the cards in my hand in shock, I was down to two-hundred life points and the cards in my hand were not going to save me. It was the heart of the cards. I turned to the crowd and waved before turning my attention to the VIP box seats. I pointed at Kaiba. You're next._

_I was due to duel Kaiba in a few hours so I had time to talk to meet my friends. It was nice to see them again, it had felt like ages, I wondered why because I had just seen them a few days ago. I shrugged off the feeling that something was off and met up with them at the food court._

" _That was awesome, Jounouchi." Honda wrapped his arm around my shoulder and pulled me into a tight, but manly, hug._

" _I knew all your hard work would pay off." Anzu said. "HE would have been proud to see you." She said, it was getting easier for her to talk about Atem; that was good; I hated seeing her in that kind of pain… Loving someone you can never have…_

_At that thought I felt a sharp pain in my chest. What was that? No one seemed to notice but it was a very real and heavy pain._

" _Now Kaiba has no choice but to acknowledge you." Yugi said._

" _Kaiba." I said his name and the pain grew slightly. "This feels like the end or something. I've finally done it."_

" _Not an end. A new beginning." Honda said. "You won't be able to deny your feelings anymore."_

_That was a weird thing for him to say. "What?" I asked but he ignored me._

" _This is your chance to have something people search for their whole lives." Yugi said._

" _Love knows no distance or time." Anzu added._

" _What are you guys talking about?" I said but they were gone and I found myself floating in darkness until a bright light flooded my vision. After my eyes adjusted I could see Kaiba's silhouette. "Kaiba?"_

" _You did it Jounouchi." He said as he readied his duel disk. "We won't be using an arena for this. This is between you and me." He said. "But first, do you have something to say to me?"_

" _I… do." I took a breath as I readied my duel disk as well. "I love you, Seto Kaiba." I said and it was surprisingly easy._

" _Good. Let's duel." He said wearing a smile I had never seen before. "Prove to me that you are worthy of my heart."_

" _Don't you worry about that." I said before drawing a hand of cards. "This will be fun."_

" _Agreed."_


	21. Seto

I decided that the first step to going back to Domino was to find a disguise so I searched the cars in long term parking and found a few things I could use. Breaking into cars wasn't exactly my forte but I watched Jounouchi do it and was a quick study. I took the clothes back to the trailer and laid them out on the bed. People would never suspect that I would ever wear anything but a fine tailored suit so the outfit was perfect.

I swallowed against my distaste and changed into baggy, ripped blue jeans, a t-shirt with a logo I didn't know, and I topped it all off with a baseball hat. So long as I didn't look anyone in the eye I would be okay.

"Computer, stand by." I said.

"Understood, Master." The computer said before shutting down. I headed out the door and "Borrowed" an inconspicuous car before driving back to Domino.

By the time I had made it into the city it was nearly dawn, my window to sneak into the hospital was closing. Thankfully, Domino General Hospital was fifteen minutes away and the streets were clear. I made my way to the hospital and parked the car, I let it idle as I looked up the room in which the surviving victim resided.

Second floor. Great. I tugged my hat down a bit more to cover my eyes and headed for the hospital. Just before I had reached the doors, however, I noticed a black van parked near the side of the Hospital. Two men, dressed in black, climbed down from the roof and hopped down to the waiting van.

Taking another look at the van, a familiar logo caught my eye, only I didn't quite remember where I had seen it before. Somewhere in my childhood maybe? I didn't have time to figure it out because the van revved to life and the two men got in and it sped off.

The odds that someone was sneaking into the hospital on the same night I was were too low to be a coincidence. With the close of the investigation I wouldn't be surprised if someone was going around tiding up loose ends.

"Damn it." I hoped I wasn't too late. Taking the path the two men used to exit I found my way to the room I was searching for, I heard a voice on the other side.

"I swear, I don't know anything." From the pain in the voice I could tell that he was the victim. "Kid just went nuts and started shooting."

"I wish I could take your word for it but I can't. I don't know if that little punk made a deal with you in order to spare your life. It's odd that you were the only one to survive."

"What? What kind of deal would leave me like this? I won't be able to walk again. Why would I choose that?"

"I don't know, Yoshi had to make it look like he was trying to kill you or we'd catch on, maybe he was thinking about that."

I didn't know how much more of this I wanted to hear, though my thinking was the same, I could see that the victim had no clue what was going on. Luckily my shot at getting answers was on the other side of the door after all.

"There are so many creative ways to end a life but you should feel lucky, a little air in the I.V. and you will be finished."

Okay. I had to get in there before whoever was behind this took anymore lives. I opened the door and startled both occupants. "I suggest you stay away from the kid's I.V." I said.

"Who the fuck are you?" the assassin asked.

"I'll be the one asking the questions. Who sent you?" I asked.

"That's a secret. Now, I have no beef with you so if you'll kindly let me do my job then I'll be on my way."

"You gotta help me man, I don't wanna die." Said the victim.

"Shut up." I said, he was a life, sure, but he was also a bully.

"Why are you protecting someone, you obviously don't know?" the assassin asked.

"That's none of your concern." I said.

The assassin clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth and reached into his back pocket to produce a blade. Shit, I hadn't come prepared for a battle. I backed around to the bed and stood between the assassin and the victim in case he tried to end it quickly.

"You have nothing to defend yourself with." The assassin said, "You are making this too easy. I have never failed to make the kill."

"Until now, that is." I said and he rushed at me, holding the blade in both hands, at the last moment I moved to the side, pulling the chart from the pocket in front of the victim's bed. The knife bounced off, sending the assassin flailing back. He caught himself and I could hear his teeth clench in anger.

He straightened himself and ran at me again, this time I caught one of the assassin's wrists and twisted him around before punching him in the arm to break it. He cried out in pain but kept hold of the knife with his other hand. He wheeled around and swiped at me, cutting me in the forearm. I let him go with a shove, he crashed into the empty food cart causing it hit the wall loudly.

The assassin tossed the knife aside and drew a gun from his belt, "I am done messing around with you."

"You should have used that in the first place." I said.

"I couldn't have the nurse coming in here, but now that I can't get out clean, I'll have to get out dirty." He said, "Before I end you, tell me who you are."

"And when that time comes I'll let you know, this is not the time." I said as I inched my way toward the discarded knife.

"Stop moving!" he said before taking a step closer and holding the gun up a little higher. I was staring down the barrel of it and began to wonder if this was the last thing Jounouchi saw. I clenched my fists at my sides, this all started then but I wouldn't let it continued.

I took off the baseball hat and tossed it toward the assassin and dove for the knife. I grabbed the knife and chucked it toward the assassin, it imbedded itself in his leg and he went down in a heap. I stood up and walked over to grab my hat, placing it back on my head, before glaring down at the assassin.

"Now, you'll answer me, who hired you?" my ear perked up at the sound of an alarm sounding and looked over at the victim. I could tell had called security "tell me, now!" I gave the knife in the assassin's leg a small twist and he cried out in pain.

"Siegfried Von Schroider"

"What?" That's when it hit me, the van and the logo, it was Kaiba Corp.'s first logo. How could I have forgotten that? I didn't have time to dwell on it because security was headed toward us.

"Enjoy your time in prison." I said to the assassin, there was no way he was getting out and the victim was surely going to press charges against the man who tried to kill him.

I slipped out the door and quickly headed for the stairwell and made my way out of the hospital and back to the car before the police showed up. I kept my head down and drove to safety.

After a few hours my drive brought me to my destination, the last known destination of the old Kaiba Corp. the birthplace of my Step-father's and Siegfried's father's company. It was confirmed that I was in the right place because the van I had seen at the hospital was parked out front.

The building was nothing special and it seemed to blend in with the rest of the businesses in the area. Whatever Siegfried was up to, he wanted to stay under the radar. I walked around the building until I found a back window. I looked inside and saw a huge computer room with a tube inside. And in the tube was a familiar Blonde. Jounouchi. I had found him.


	22. Jounouchi

Once again I was forced to face the reality that my dreams were just that. I was dead and anything that was happening in my dreaming state was not real. Each dream was more pleasant than the last: I spent time with my friends, my family was fixed and everything was fine, I got to share a simple morning breakfast with the man I loved.

Each of these dreams were precious and wonderful and I wanted to remain asleep so that I could enjoy them longer. I was tired of facing the fact that I was nothing but a ghost and that all the things I could have had were gone now.

I was growing frustrated by these dreams and I wanted them to stop too. I wanted to stop waking up to the truth. I pounded on the glass with every ounce of strength I could muster but it wasn't enough to do anything. Damn it! If I was so powerful that an evil mastermind went through all of the trouble of orchestrating my murder then why couldn't I save myself?

The door opened, interrupting my hopelessness, and I saw a shadow of a man enter, he closed the door behind him. If it was another one of that pink-haired freak's lackeys I'd show them a thing or too. Okay, there wasn't much I could do from to confines of my prison but the thought would be there.

I watched as the man came closer and I felt myself tense up, I wasn't sure what these freaks were up to and I didn't like it. The man, who was wearing a strange outfit for a scientist, finally stood before me and tilted his head back so I could see beneath his baseball hat.

Blue eyes bore into mine and I was instantly surprised to see Kaiba, but he shouldn't have come to Domino. "What are you doing here? You went through all the trouble of making everyone think you are dead."

"Shut up, I do what I want. No one's seen me so far." He said as if this were some fun new game. "What have you gotten yourself into this time?"

"You think I know? These dumb ghost hunters or whatever caught me in this trap and when I woke up I was in this tube." I said, "This pink-haired jerk said something about assimilating with me. I tried to catch as much of it as I could but it made no sense."

"Jounouchi, calm down. I know that Schroider is behind this and I have seen the plans for this machine once before as well."

"Schroider? Why is that name so familiar?"

"I'm not surprised you don't remember since that tournament was small." He said, "It doesn't matter, all that matters is that I had hoped that the tournament would be the last I would hear from him."

"There are somethings I never shared with you, during battle city when our bodies were taken hostage by Noah." he said. "This machine has something to do with that. Anyway, I am going to get you out of there."

Kaiba moved away from the glass and turned his attention to the computer connected to the machine and started punching in buttons and messing with levers. "Hey," I said when I noticed the lever that was keeping me in this state of weakness. "Push that green one up a bit." I said, he did so without hesitation and I could feel my energy returning.

It was quick and powerful, I had no idea if it was from the machine or the fact that Kaiba was right there but I was still grateful. At least I was until Seto jerked his hand from the machine in pain only to glare at me.

"Whatever you're doing, knock it off." He said.

"I'm not doing anything." I said, "at least I didn't mean to."

"Crap, you fried it." He said. "Nothing works now." He said as he touched a few useless buttons. "I can't open this now." He said then paused as an idea came to him, I could tell because he wore that familiar smirk on his face. He turned away, grabbed a metal pipe, "Duck as much as you can and shield your eyes." I did as I was told and in an instant glass rained down around us.

I stumbled out of the tube but I hadn't felt my legs in so long that I fell forward. I was on my way to the glass covered ground but I never made it as a strong arm wrapped around me. Seto pulled me up but didn't let go immediately when I was straight again and I looked at him for a moment.

He ignored the awkwardness and reached his hand down to grab my wrist. "Let's get out of here before he finds us." He said.

"You don't need to tell me twice." I said.

Still welding the metal bar, Seto smashed the window to the outside and we climbed through. We had to hurry because if they found Seto they wouldn't hesitate to kill him.

We got in the car and he drove off, after a few miles I began to tell him about the things I had heard the men say while I was conscious.

"It makes sense now." Seto said, "at least the part about them wanting access Gozaburo's old inventions. They want to use the machine that was supposed to give Noah my body, only that machine was meant for an empty host. I sounds to me like Schroider wants to use it to fuse souls together inside one body… his."

"That's nuts." I said

"He won't have the access codes, no matter what. We'll stop him. My brother can keep the American's at bay for now."

"But it sounds like once the deal with the Americans go through then he'll have an army of his own and he'll be unstoppable." I said. It seemed as though we were too late to do anything to stop him.

"We'll find a way to stop him." Except I know Seto long enough to be able to tell when he was unsure of himself.

"We need to help Mokuba." I said.

"He's the last person who is stopping them from getting control of my company. I trust him." He said, "He's learned from me."

"I'm not doubting him, I just think that we need some extra help on this." I said.

"If you are suggesting what I think you are then you can forget it. We don't need to get any more people involved." He said.

"You know that it's the right move. Why are you fighting it?"

"I'm not going to beg your friends for help and I am certainly not going to tell them I can see you."

"You don't have to beg, they consider you a friend. They would be glad to help."

"I hate everything about this." He said, let out a breath and asked, "Does Yugi still at the game shop?"

"Yes." I smiled as Seto headed for the Kame Game Shop.


	23. Seto

We pulled up in front of the game shop and exchanged looks, the look of the shop was unusual for nine in the morning. Jounouchi and I got out of the car and headed for the door, I gave the handle a pull but the door did not open.

"Sorry we're closed today," it was Yugi's voice, he must have come out of the shop through the side door. He was dressed in dark colors and wore a sad look.

"A little shop like this can't afford to be closing its doors whenever it pleases." I said, receiving a cold look from Jounouchi, Yugi, however, didn't look at all offended, in fact he looked surprised.

"Kaiba?" Yugi tilted his head to get a better look at my face

"Who the hell else would it be?" I said.

"But...you're dead." Yugi said, "I was on my way to your wake just now."

"That's a waste of time, obviously. I don't want to talk about this out here."

"Yugi, are you ready?" the three of us looked over to see Hiroto and Mazaki walking up the street. "We need to get a good spot." Mazaki continued.

"I don't think we need to worry about that now." Yugi said. "Let's go inside." He said and opened the front door so that the five of us could walk inside, though Yugi didn't know it was five.

"Yugi, what's going on?" Hiroto asked, "Who is this guy?"

"How can you not know?" I asked and removed my hat causing everyone to gasp. "Don't be so dramatic."

"But you died when your mini plane crashed into the ocean, your body washed up on shore." Hiroto said.

"I had Mokuba come up with a fitting cover story, I had to fake my death because something big is going on." I explained.

"Why are you here? Someone could recognize you." Yugi said, "That disguise did nothing to mask your voice."

"Because…" I paused, I hated this so much but I had to ignore my pride because this was more important.

"Go on, tell them you need their help." Jounouchi pushed, "We can't trust anyone else."

"I know that." I snapped. Oops, we had been alone for so long that I've gotten comfortable talking to him. I cleared my throat, "I know that I shouldn't be asking this of you but I need your help." I said.

"No problem." Yugi said and there wasn't a hit of "you'll owe me" in his voice. "Tell us what's going on."

Leaving out the part about Jounouchi's murder, I told them everything from the Americans trying to make a deal for Gozaburo's military secrets up to the point where Siegfried hired said Americans so that he could have his own army. I also added the part about Siegfried's plan to become immortal through the use of Gozaburo's technology.

"I know it sounds farfetched but I am not the type of person to make this shit up." I said, "I need someone, you guys, to watch over Mokuba and make sure nothing happens to him."

"No problem there but what are you going to do?" Mazaki said. "We can help you too."

"No, I need to fight this on my own." I said, this is bad enough as it is. "I just need to know that my brother is in safe hands."

"Sure, but Kaiba, we don't want to lose two classmates in one year, no, we don't want to lose two friends." Yugi said.

At those words I glanced back at Jounouchi, he must miss them so much. I wish I could let them know that Jounouchi was here too but there would be no point in hurting them again when he had to move on.

"Don't underestimate me. It's hard enough for me to ask you to look after my brother but it's proof that I will do whatever's necessary to protect what is mine. If I need you again I will find you." I said.

"Alright" Hiroto said, "Then we should go to the wake and find Mokuba, we don't want anyone who may be watching to wonder why we weren't there but that we are suddenly hanging out with him."

"Good Point." Mazaki said, "I'll gladly go to a fake funeral. I'm glad you aren't dead, Kaiba." She said. I think she is just about the only woman, aside from Mai, who isn't afraid of me.

"Kaiba, you can hide out here for now if you need to." Yugi said before turning to the others. "Alright, let's go." He said.

After they had all left Jounouchi fell into the seat beside me. I could feel the wrinkles on my forehead more intensely than ever and suddenly Jounouchi reached out to touch them.

I pulled away, "What are you doing?" I asked.

"You look a little too lost in thought." He said, "What's going on in that super brain of yours?"

"Idiot." That was the dumbest thing I'd ever heard from him but I let it go. "He killed you just so he could have your soul." I looked right at him and I felt a rush of sadness. "You don't seem to even care about that."

"Are you crazy? Of course I care about it. It's just that there isn't much I can do about it now other than stop him from hurting other people." He said, "come on, even you know I didn't have much longer, the way I was living, anyway. I have nothing to stay here for. My friends will learn to move on, my family has already…" I could tell he was keeping something from me but he let out a grunt of annoyance, "I don't want to talk about this and it doesn't matter anyway."

"Those are the words of someone who's given up. And here I thought you were as stubborn as an ox." I said, the paused to think before saying "You won't be easy to forget." Shit, I didn't mean to say that out loud.

"You know while I was locked up by that freak there was something on my mind, something I wanted to tell you." He said after a beat.

"What was that?" I asked, glad that he had ignored the comment.

"I wanted to tell you that I… That you…" as he spoke I felt my pants vibrate, my phone.

"Hold on." I said and pulled out my phone before answering. "Mokuba, Is everything alright?" I asked and set the phone to speaker so Jounouchi could hear.

"Nice try Seto Kaiba." The voice on the other end had a very distinct accent. "But not good enough, you see, you didn't check for cameras before you broke into my lab, too bad, you are usually so careful."

"Siegfried!" I spat. "What are you doing on my brother's phone?" I asked even though I knew there was only one reason.

"He's fine. For now." He said. "If you bring me what I want then I won't have to extract his soul."

"Big Brother! Don't listen to him…" there was a muffled sound on the other end and I could tell someone had punched him.

"Bring me the access cards and that soul you took from the lab this morning and I'll give you your bother back." Siegfried said before the line went dead.


	24. Jounouchi

It was eerie, to say the least, to see Kaiba in such a calm mood. I was sure that he would yell at me for suggesting that we go to my friends for help. Though, how was I supposed to know that Siegfried was two steps ahead of us?

I watched as Seto adjusted the mirror in the car for the eighth time, maybe he wasn't as calm as I thought he was.

After getting the news about Mokuba we wasted no time in getting back into the car to head for Kaiba Corp. As I watched the city fly by us for a moment, I wasn't sure what to say or even if I could help by saying anything. It was just too quiet.

"Stop fidgeting." Seto said, I hadn't noticed I'd been doing that.

"I can't help it." I said, "I don't know how we are going to get out of this one. I mean I will gladly let myself be traded for Mokuba but the access codes… it would be pointless to save Mokuba if we are all gonna die anyway."

"No one is going to die." He said and I assumed he meant no one that wasn't already dead.

"You have a plan?"

"Of course, I always do. They will regret coming after me." I was relieved to hear that because it made me feel safe, Kaiba was usually right about these things… eventually.

We arrived at Kaiba Corp. and it was a little surprising to see that the entire building was closed, well, except for wherever Siegfried was hiding. The wake for Kaiba's unexpected death seemed to benefit Siegfried as well.

"I suppose this works out for us. I don't want my employees to get hurt and sue me." Kaiba said even though I was sure he actually cared about them.

Kaiba swiped his keycard for the building and headed inside where we were greeted by a few men with guns. I remembered some of them from the warehouse, not sure they were too happy to know that they hadn't stopped Kaiba the way they thought.

"So what's your plan?" I asked. Even though I was dead I was still nervous around all of the automatic weapons.

"Tell Siegfried that I have the access codes he wants. Tell him that he is to send my brother down here so I can watch him leave before he gets them." Seto said, his voice booming as it carried over the lobby.

"There is no need for that." Seto and I looked up at the second floor balcony where Siegfried stood and behind him was Mokuba with a guard on either side of him. "Let him go." He said and one of the men shoved Mokuba forward.

I had to smile at the look on Mokuba's face, he was only mildly annoyed rather than scared. Yup, he was definitely a Kaiba. Mokuba ran to Kaiba's side and let out a breath of relief.

"The access codes." Siegfried said as he held out his hand.

"Mokuba." Seto said and Mokuba took his duel monster's card locked off and handed it to him. Kaiba did the same with his locket and tossed them up to one of Siegfried's men. "You need to go, find Yugi and the others. Stay with them." He said to Mokuba.

"But Seto…"

"Don't argue, I'll be fine." He said and made sure Mokuba was gone before looking back at Siegfried. "Are we done here?"

"I don't think so." Siegfried said, "I told you to bring me two things." He finished and snapped his fingers. Two men I recognized as the scientists who had captured me kicked out their trap and turned it on.

The only thing I could hear then, was the painful noise and the sound of Seto shouting for them to stop.

***23* Seto *23***

* * *

"You can't stop progress." Siegfried said the paused while his men collected Jounouchi and escaped to the elevator.

"By the way." Siegfried said. "You think I don't know that the access codes are not the only thing I need?" Siegfried turned to his men and gave a nod, I wasn't sure when they had gotten so close but one of them hit me in the back of the head with the butt of his gun and everything went black.

I didn't know how much time had passed before I had woken up but it felt like ages and the throbbing in the back of my head was intense. It took a moment for my eyes to focus but when they did I found myself in stepfather's war room. The place I kept all of his military secrets. Shit. This was not at all what I had planned. The other thing they needed to access the room was Kaiba DNA, they must've figured it out somehow.

"Kaiba!" Startled I looked for the source, it was Jounouchi, and he was in the device created to give Noah my body. He was pounding on the glass furiously but it only seemed to hurt him.

"Stop that." I said. I tried to get up but I was tied to a chair, bound by my wrists and legs. "Damn!"

"Ah, just in time to watch the show." I glanced over and saw Siegfried standing next to Jounouchi where he slid a hand intimately down the glass, which irritated me.

"Let him go." I ordered.

"Oh? That was quiet an order, am I to understand that you care for this boy? Now that is funny." He laughed. Bastard. "The bullies we hired seemed to think you hated him. Oh how fun this is. Life is so funny sometimes. It was just a coincidence that he had a strong enough soul and here we are, I get to take my revenge on you using your company and someone you care for."

"…Just let him go and you can have anything you want." I said.

"What? Are you crazy, Kaiba?!" Jounouchi called to me. "I'm already gone, I don't matter. I have nothing to live for anyway."

I ignored him. He was wrong. So wrong.

"Give me access to everything, then I can find more strong souls. I won't need him anymore then."

"Fine. But let him go." I said.

"Not yet." He said and crossed the room to untie me. "Log me in, give me access to everything." He said. "Now."

We made our way over to the computer and I began to log in to the deepest sections of Kaiba Corp. "These are all of the passwords." I said. "Now, let him go."

"No, I don't think so." He laughed. "I will build an unstoppable, un-killable, army and take over this pathetic world." He snapped his fingers and two of his men grabbed me by my arms, I tried to struggle but their grip was too tight. "Now, now, sit tight Kaiba and watch as I take everything away from you."

I spared a glance at Jounouchi and when our eyes met he mouthed something at me, I couldn't quite understand what it was though.

Siegfried made his way over to my father's machine and pressed a few buttons. Siegfried looked back at me with malice in his eyes, it was obvious that he was mad with revenge.

"Your step-father and I spent many hours developing the prototype for this machine and many others, then he took the plans and started his own company. All of these inventions should be mine and when I am immortal I will use them all."

"We get it, you freak!" Jounouchi said, "You don't have to rehash the story over and over again."

"You are a strong willed soul indeed." He smiled, "since you will be a part of me I will grant you the gift of final words." The sick bastard was enjoying this way too much.

"Kaiba…" Jounouchi said and I looked over at him. "I've been trying to tell you something for a while now." The machine made a sound that I could only assume meant that it was done warming up. "Seeing as how I might not get the chance to do it later I can tell you now." He said while Siegfried entered the other chamber of the device and pressed a few buttons.

"I'm glad we got to be friends for a while. It was a little surreal at first but then I started to have feelings for you. You aren't a bad guy and I hope you can let other people see that too." He said, his voice a little more frantic.

"Jounouchi…" I struggled to get free once more but was stopped in my efforts as the machine began to scream to life. A light surrounded Jounouchi's body but he didn't seem to be in pain, in fact, it was the opposite, he looked to be at peace. I was interrupted from that thought by the sound of Siegfried screaming.

"What is going on?" he said as he tried to free himself from the chamber but could not. Whatever was surrounding Jounouchi was powerful enough to stop the machine from completing its task.

Siegfried's men let go of me in an effort to save their boss, they tried everything to get him out but it was useless. I took this chance and headed over to Jounouchi. "What are you doing?"

"I have no idea, I feel really good though. Maybe this is my unfinished business." He said and the light began to brighten causing the machine to hum louder and louder only to burn out moments later.

The silence that followed was heavy, Siegfried's lifeless body slumped against the glass of his chamber and his men were unconscious on the ground. I glanced back at Jounouchi who was still enveloped by the light.

He placed his hands on the glass and I placed mine over his before looking into his honey brown eyes, those eyes were filled with warmth and acceptance. He's seen some parts of me that I had never even showed Mokuba. I felt anger bubbling up within me. Why did it have to be like this? He had to fight this. I didn't want him to leave. It wasn't right.

"Try to stay alive for a long time because I don't need you bothering me in the afterlife." He said.

"Idiot." Why was he making jokes now?

"This isn't fair is it?" he said. "I've finally found something real and I can't have it." The light around his body began to grow and I could see him disappearing.

"Don't go!" I said suddenly. "You said you had nothing to live for before but that's wrong." I ran a hand through my hair and gave a small tug before continuing, "Live for me. I want you to live for me. I love you, you moron."

"Seto…" the sound of my name coming from his lips made me feel warm all over. I've never felt anything like it before. I let my eyes close for a moment to savor the feeling but when I opened my eyes again the light around Jounouchi had almost claimed him fully. "I love you, Seto." He said.

"I'm not letting you go, Jounouchi!"


	25. Jounouchi

Darkness. That was all I could see and the blackness of it was suffocating. I was floating in a sea of oily water and yet I was dry. If this was the afterlife then it gave a whole new meaning to only living once. While I no longer felt the pain nor the weight of living it was still a place I didn't want to be. There was nothing comforting about existing like this. But if this is the price for saving the man I love and the world then I will gladly accept it.

All around me were other souls, they seemed to be suspended in a state of sleep, why was I awake, I wondered. Hopefully I would get to join them in their peaceful slumber.

Suddenly I began to choke and my body felt really heavy, and then I was sinking beneath the black sea. I didn't have time to panic as a wave of white light enveloped me. The next thing I knew was that I was lying on something soft which was good because the weight was catching up with me again.

Then.

Pain.

Unbelievable and great pain filled my body and I wanted to scream but I couldn't. I balled my hands into fists and grabbed at the soft surface beneath me just to have something to focus on.

My heart hurt most of all. I loved Seto so much and by the time I had figured that out it was too late. My life was always like that. I was the underdog in even matters of the heart.

"Why is he crying?" someone asked.

Huh? I knew that voice, yet I couldn't quite remember who it belonged too. It was on the edge of my mind but I couldn't recall it over all the pain I felt.

"It must be the transition." Another voice. This one I couldn't forget in a million years.

"Seto?" I tried to speak but my lungs hurt. Did my lips move at least? I had no idea.

"He's trying to say something." The first voice again.

"Calm down, Mokuba, he needs to wake on his own."

That's right, it was Mokuba's voice. But what were they doing here? Did Siegfried succeed after all?

"I'm so glad it worked though." Mokuba said.

"Alright, why don't you go wait in your room until he is fully awake?" Seto said. "I will get you the moment he's ready."

"Sure." Mokuba said.

I heard the sound of the door closing and then felt a cool hand touch my forehead. It had been a while since I had felt anything and in the span of five minutes I felt everything.

"Open your eyes, Katsuya."

Wow, the sound of my first name, it filled my body with a tingle that replaced all the pain I was feeling. I wanted to obey but I couldn't, oh, why was it so hard to open my eyes?

I felt another sensation on my forehead, soft, it lingered there for a moment before pulling away. "I'm tired of waiting for you. Wake up." He ordered.

Bastard, you think I don't want to?

"I'll make you pay for making me wait, you know." He said, "You aren't going to get me to admit that I love you only to leave me alone. I don't think so." He said and the weight of the surface shifted a bit. I felt the soft sensation again only this time it was brushing up against my lips.

Seto's breath was coming out in shallow waves as he hesitantly placed his lips over mine, harder this time.

My eyes opened and the light assaulted me so harshly that I pulled away from the kiss. "Ah. Too bright." I said so that Seto wouldn't think that it was the kiss causing me to pull away from him.

"I'll adjust that later." He said. "But other than that, how do you feel?"

"Weird, I feel heavy…wait, what's going on?" shielding my eyes with my hands I got a look at the room. The soft surface I was on was a bed. "How is this possible?"

"I tweaked my stepfather's technology so that it would work and then I uploaded your mind and soul into the computer. I didn't have time to make a world for you so it must've been really dark. I'm sorry but I wanted to bring you back as soon as possible."

"Bring me back?" I was so confused, how could this even be possible? Okay, so even if I could be uploaded into the computer my body was still a pile of ash. "But my body…"

"I made you a new one, a perfect likeness too, well almost." He said. "If you tell me what I should fix then I will."

"You made me a new body? And my soul was transferred into it?"

"That's right. Everything you are is exactly the same the only difference is that you are an android. You have all emotions and feelings, you'll even age. Of all the things I've invented you are the one thing I am most proud of." He said.

"Why would you do this for me?"

"Why?" he was taken aback, "I am the one who knows least on the subject of love and yet you ask me why." He laughed. "I told you I wasn't going to let you go. You need to take responsibility for turning me into a lovesick fool."

"I love you, Seto." I said, his first name falling from my lips like it was the most natural thing in the world. I wrapped my arms around him and hugged him around the middle.

"I told Mokuba that I would bring you to him as soon as you woke up." He said.

"Wait, doesn't everyone think I'm dead? What are they gonna do when they see me?" I asked.

"I took care of all of that while I was building you this body. I told Mokuba everything but everyone else thinks that we both faked our deaths in order to save Japan, you going first was part of the plan. You can go back to your normal life." He said.

"My normal life, huh?" I said, "not exactly normal now that I'm with you."

"I suppose that's true." He said and paused for a moment before adding, "I will be going out with you and your friends to Karaoke, after all."

"Really?"

"Don't get too excited, I'm not going to sing." He added. "I told your family that you were alive as well."

I no, did he know that they had moved on without me? Crap. Where was I going to live?

"Your face does nothing to hide your emotions. They missed you, Jounouchi, though with a new baby on the way they have requested that you live here."

"Live here? In the mansion?" I looked around.

"It might be a little strange and if you don't want to I can get you an apartment of your choosing." He said.

"No. I want to live here, with you." I said. "I mean, can I?"

"I assumed that, that would be the case. I have a room ready for you." He said.

"This isn't my room?"

"No, it's mine." He said, I could feel my body heat up at that comment and the suggestive way in which he said those words.

"It's nice…" I said and made to get out of the bed but he stopped me by blocking my path. "What?" he said nothing, instead he slipped his hand into my hair and pulled me closer. Our lips met and he smiled against my mouth before taking it to a more passionate place. He pulled away with a whispered "I love you" leaving his lips.

"I love you, too." I said, my head spinning slightly.

"Welcome to your new life." He said, "I'll bring Mokuba in here, you may need more recovery time than I thought." He got up and left the room, sparing a glance in my direction before leaving.

Welcome to my new life? A new life? There was something freeing about that. I fell back against the bed and stared up at the ceiling and wondered what this new life would bring?

It didn't matter. What mattered was that I would live my new life with the man I love and I would get to experience all of the things I was meant to.

Looks like the death of me was the beginning of a new me, a me I would never take for granted because now I had something special.

Love.

The End.

* * *

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow. This is the last chapter. I really enjoyed writing it and I really appreciate all of the support I've gotten. Your reviews kept me going at a time when I feel really unmotivated. Thank you. I will be working on a new Puppyshipping adventure shortly and in the meantime please read Sunset and In Search of Atlantis (while they are not the main couple in those stories there are a couple of chapters dedicated to Seto and Jounouchi).
> 
> Thanks again and enjoy.


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